A Sweet Fanged Smile
by crimZonvampire
Summary: Poet Mizuki Natsujina is enrolled in Cross Academy and falls for Takuma Ichijo, but what will happen when she discovers her love is a vampire? Or when her family's dark pasts are revealed to her new friend? Set one year before the original story. TakumaXOC.
1. Chapter 1

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

CHAPTER 1  
><em>Meeting a new friend,<br>Facing an old enemy,  
>Watching the one you love,<br>Cross the point of no return,_

_Forgotten memories,  
>Faded sweet words,<br>All lost in time when you,  
>Cross the point of no return.<em>

"Please, please, please, please PLEEEEEASE!" Kaien Cross stuck his lower lip out and clasp his hands together. Pathetic, that's what it was, an extremely pathetic plea. Anyone but the beautiful, blonde boy in front of him would have at the very least shown their annoyance at Cross's blubbering.  
>Takuma Ichijo merely sighed lightly and rubbed his temple. "What about the Disciplinary Committee? Wouldn't it be safer if they handled this?"<br>Cross folded his arms. "They got last-minute supplementary classes," he pouted, sticking his lip out again. "Yuuki was going to show our new student around, but now..." He began bawling and the gloom that hung over him was like a black shadow. Takuma hurriedly tried to reassure him. As always a small smile played across his lips.  
>Cross's wailing was so loud Takuma worried the peacefully sleeping Day Class students would wake. "What about Kaname?" he tried.<br>Cross gazed into the distance somberly. "He can't either. He says he has much more important things to be concerned with than this, but I think he's just avoiding me," he whimpered.

The green eyed boy took this as the perfect opportunity to practice the lovely art if silence.  
>Finally, after the long stretch of quiet was beginning to become awkward, Takuma sighed again and gave in. "All right, I'll show her around. But this is just for tomorrow, after that I assume the Disciplinary Committee will take care of things?"<br>Cross looked up, eyes shimmering. "Really? Thank youuuuu!" He lunged into the air and attempted to embrace the young man, but he was already at the door  
>"All right, then I'll be ready to escort our new student tomorrow." He hurriedly flapped a hand, eager to escape the hug.<br>He turned to leave when Cross slipped into serious mode behind him. "Vice president, remember she is a Day Class student, so the probability of the Day Class learning the secret of the Night Class is high. Be careful."  
>Takuma nodded, thinking only of his new books back in the dorm that needed reading. "Good night, Headmaster." The door closed with a gentle click.<br>The Headmaster pushed his glasses up. "Yes," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Be careful."

Takuma stood, somewhat anxiously, awaiting the new students arrival. A small, red car pulled up to the gates where the vice president, with the ever present smile teasing his lips, stood expectantly.  
>The door swung open and one boot, it's twin following, stepped out slowly, then the rest if the female figure emerged. A tall girl with shoulder length, light brown hair and glasses stood before him. She was pretty, in a simple sort of way. She had good figure, and a slight bookish look about her. <em>Maybe it's the glasses, <em>Takuma thought absentmindedly. He shook his head clear, put on a bright smile, and approached the young woman. "Hi," he said cheerily.  
>She jumped and whirled around to meet him.<p>

"You must be our new student. I'm Takuma Ichijo, vice president of the night class, and you are?" he asked politely.  
>"M-Mizuki Natsujina," she stammered, blushing slightly.<br>He smiled warmly. "Welcome to Cross Academy Miss Natsujina."  
>A half an hour later Takuma and Mizuki sat peacefully under a tree waiting for the very kind girl from the day class to finish putting Mizuki's things in the dorm. The beautiful girl took out a pencil and wrote a few words on a notebook she had been carrying the whole while.<br>Takuma peered over her shoulder. The neat, swirly kanji was written in such a way he knew almost instantly-  
>"You're a poet."<br>She gasped and clutched the notebook to her chest.  
>"Sorry, sorry, that's really none of my business." He paused thoughtfully, thinking back to a specific book he had borrowed. "Miss Natsujina, have you ever heard of a man named William Shakespeare?"<br>She relaxed her grip on the poem book. "Shakespeare? No, I don't think so. He doesn't sound Japanese, who is he?"  
>Takuma tilted his head back against the tree and looked at the sky. "He's a British playwright from sixteenth century, but the plays he wrote were written in poetic form." He closed his eyes and thought back dreamily to a passage from his book.<br>"_To be or not to be: that is the question:  
>Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer<br>The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,  
>Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,<br>And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;_..." he trailed off.  
>Mizuki leaned back. "That's beautiful," she said breathlessly.<br>Takuma smiled and opened his eyes. Gazing at the sky he said, "That was one of Shakespeare's most famous passages, from a play called Hamlet. I borrowed a book on him from the library because I was going to see one of his plays." He turned to face Mizuki. "If you like his style of writing, would you like to see it with me?"  
>A small flush crept up her cheeks. "Really? You would take me to see it?"<br>He smiled broadly. "Of course, but only on one condition-" He held up a single finger to represent the number, "-Would you write me a poem about the moon?"  
>The pink in her cheeks became considerably brighter, but Takuma just smiled. "The play isn't until Saturday, if you would like to go then just tell me before then." His mind – and unconsciously, his eyes – floated back toward the dorms. "I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," he said. He stood and quietly walked back to the night class dormitories, passing only Rima at the gates.<br>Quiet, or rather, desolate, was the perfect word to describe what the dormitory was. No one was to be seen, but Takuma, mind elsewhere, didn't seem to notice the absence of his classmates and proceeded straight to his room.  
>He clicked the door open, grabbed the book laying on his bed, turned around and almost ran right into Senri. The model was shirtless, stick of Pocky in his mouth, toweling off his hair.<br>"Shiki." Takuma blinked in surprise. "What are you doing up?"  
>Senri rolled his eyes to the side "I'm getting ready for a photo shoot," he said expressionlessly.<br>His roommate smiled. "Right, Rima told me you two were doing a photo shoot today. In case you were wondering, she's waiting for you at the gate." He heard Senri give a grunt of thanks before Takuma pulled open the door and slipped out of it.  
>He crossed the grounds, passing Rima again, (who was beginning to look annoyed) and slowed from a jog to a walk when he got close to the tree where Mizuki was patiently waiting. He saw her look up thoughtfully, then add a few lines to her poem.<br>"Miss Natsujina," he said, so to give her a moment of warning to hide her poems if she wanted, "would you like to borrow this for a while? It might influence you to come see the play."  
>She flipped her poems over and let them rest on her lap. Mizuki accepted the book from Takuma, tucked her hair behind one ear, and flipped to a marked page. The swirled kanji at the top read, <em>Hamlet<em>. She closed the book and pressed it to her chest ."It should be about the moon right? The poem, I mean," she said softly.  
>Two bright green eyes lit up. The night class student opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by a loud series of bongs. Takuma's eyes flicked up. "Classes are going to start soon, we need to hurry," he muttered worriedly. He shot a nervous glance toward the gates of the night class, where eager day class students were beginning to crowd around, put on his best smile, and spoke slowly to the young girl in front of him so she wouldn't think anything was wrong. "Miss Natsujina, why don't you change and then I will show you around the school building?"<br>She nodded, stood, and began to walk towards the dormitories. Takuma was sure to hurry to her side, the side facing the fangirls crowding around. This was a risky move on his part: on one hand, Mizuki wouldn't be able to see the commotion at the gate, on the other, if the fangirls saw _him_, well, let's just say he hoped Mizuki was a fast runner.  
>He breathed a sigh of relief when they got inside the gates and slumped down under another, larger, tree to wait for Mizuki. She was fairly quick, and soon he saw a glasses-clad figure strolling toward him. <em>She looks good, <em>he thought offhandedly. And it was true, the black jacket highlighted her better points, and the skirt, although slightly longer then the other girl's, showed of her long legs nicely. The new, crisp corners of the uniform wrapped around her, and black, new, knee socks and shiny shoes tapped the sidewalk lightly. She approached Takuma, notebook in her hands, and said, "Ichijo, you look worried. Everything all right?"  
>The latter looked anxiously at a pair of girls crossing the grounds, then smiled reassuringly at Mizuki. "Hmm? Oh it's nothing." He stood walked to the side facing the night class gates and took her arm to guide her.<br>They managed to make it to the classrooms without being spotted. Takuma gave her a quick tour then stopped at his classroom.  
>"Should I leave?" Mizuki asked.<br>Takuma shook his head and smiled. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Classes don't start for a few minutes."  
>She dug a toe shyly into the floor, but followed him in anyways. They sat talking about unimportant things for a few minutes before Mizuki insisted she should go and headed to the door.<br>She pulled it open, took a single step, and ran straight into the young man standing in the doorway. She reeled back while an unaffected Idol surveyed her up and down. He gave her a seductive smile, tilted her chin up, leaned his face close to hers, and purred, "And who are you, my lovely flower?"  
>Mizuki jerked back. Takuma caught her at the shoulders at the same time Akatsuki, who was flanking Idol said, "Hanabusa." And flicked his head back towards Kaname. The latter stood, eyes narrowed, leaning against the door frame, just watching.<br>Takuma, sensing danger, pulled the young poet toward the door, and the man next to it. "Kaname!" he said cheerily.  
>The pureblood glanced at the girl, then back to his friend.<br>Takuma looked down at the body attached to the shoulders he gripped as if he had just noticed what was there. "Ah. This is Miss Mizuki Natsujina. She's our new student, the Disciplinary Committee was busy, so the Headmaster asked me to show her around. It's completely my fault. I kept her too long."  
>Mizuki, taking the hint, picked up the act quickly and bowed. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just leaving." she gave a quick wave and a smile to Takuma. "Goodbye Ichijo. I'll see you tomorrow." she left with a gentle clack of the lock. Takuma, thinking on the spur of the moment, was left with the blame. He gave a weak smile and tried to think of a way to sort things out.<p>

"WHAAAT? You're serious, everyday all of the girls break curfew to make googly eyes at the night class?" Mizuki slammed her hands down onto the desk so forcefully the girl sitting behind it jumped. She whipped around as the bell bonged a few times. "Then I've got to get there first." she muttered. Then, without warning she darted toward the door and raced down the hall.  
>She reached the gates panting and trying to catch her breath, but even with what little breath she had she was still able to groan. The gates, which were already beginning to open, were swarmed by screaming fangirls.<br>A tiny girl was trying frantically to keep them back-to no avail-and the boy by her side gave them a glare fierce enough to kill. But even with his look they still screamed wildly at the sight of the boy she had run into last night, ladies and gentleman, Hanabusa Aido. He said something she couldn't hear over the crowd, pretended to shoot one of the girls (he had obviously done this countless times because it was practiced and perfect) and then got swarmed to the point he couldn't be seen.  
>Mizuki knew this was her one and only chance to get to Takuma. With a practiced eye she spotted him and ran towards him, trying to deliver the letter she clutched in her hand. The swarm paraded around her and in the commotion Mizuki was knocked to the ground. The letter flew out of her hand and landed at the foot if a different boy. Akatsuki stooped down, picked up the letter, read the name on the front, then put it in his pocket for safekeeping. Mizuki silently thanked him. She had wanted to deliver the letter herself, but at least this way Takuma would be sure to get it.<p>

"Vice president." Akatsuki flipped the letter up between his first and second finger "I found this for you."  
>Takuma took the letter and quickly thanked Akatsuki. The swirled kanji of his name was remarkably familiar, then it hit him, it must be from Mizuki. He tore the top off and with a gleam in his eye read the neat kanji within.<br>_"Ichijo, I haven't quite decided if I will come with you yet, but I figured the least I could do to thank you was write you a poem. I'm warning you it's not your typical moon poem, but I still hope you like it:  
><em>

_A brightly glowing orb  
>Suspended in the night<br>Watching, waiting, whispering  
>Counting down 'till light<em>

_Throwing light upon the ground,  
>Or shadows on the trees?<br>Pushing creatures back,  
>Or letting them roam free?<em>

_A blessing, or a beacon?  
>A warning of a war?<br>A simple glowing lantern,  
>Or is it something more?<em>

_Blood spilled in its shadows  
>Murder in its shade<br>Death reflected in its eyes  
>Cut by its sharpened blade<em>

_Watching with a gleaming eye  
>At the chaos it has caused<br>And its evil mouth grinning at  
>The lives that have been lost<em>

_Laughing at the meager sun  
>Scared of the wretched dark<br>The moon has claimed its place  
>The moon has made its mark<em>

_The moon's dark daunting smile  
>The moon's evil staring eyes<br>The moon's wrath, its reign of terror  
>The moon's haunting of the skies<em>

_The moon calls upon the creatures  
>And the villains of the night<br>Flying and unleashing  
>Its great and terrible plight<em>

_Safety's not an option  
>Nothing's left for some<br>You can't run, and you can't hide  
>Escape will never come."<em>

He finished reading the letter and sat back eyes closed, not smiling this time. It was beautiful, in his opinion, a perfect description of the moon. Not a wielder of light, but a wielder of darkness. A signal to all vampires. Eyes still closed, he let them turn a bright red. He felt his fangs extend against his lips and allowed his tongue to loll over them. Then he stopped. If he kept this up soon he would picture himself drinking blood. He forced his eyes to turn back to green under their lids so he could open them. He tucked a hand in his pocket, pulled out his blood tablets, and dropped one in the cup that sat on his desk. He lifted the glass to his lips and drank it all. There. That would tide him over for now, but he could feel his urge for blood getting stronger. Eventually he would have to drink someone's blood. He just hoped when that day came the person he was drinking from would understand.

Mizuki tapped a foot on the sidewalk. She was waiting for Takuma, having agreed to see the play with him. The young man, dressed in a black suit, (surprisingly it looked nice on him,) materialized next to her. She turned around and met him with a smile. "Did you like my poem?"  
>He returned her smile. "Yes. It was beautiful. Perfect."<br>She blushed slightly. "It was dark. I warned you it's not exactly your typical poem."  
>"Well, you're not exactly a typical poet." right then a long black limousine pulled up beside them.<br>Mizuki's eyes widened. "This is what we're taking? I thought you said this was your family's car?"  
>Takuma grinned sheepishly. "It is." he had forgotten to consider how rich his family was. The Ichijo name, in both the vampire and the human world, was well known. He pulled open the door and ushered Mizuki inside, himself following. She took off the long black cloak she had on revealing a peach, strapless dress. Takuma looked admiringly at her ability to look pretty in anything. She was wearing just a touch of makeup under her glasses as well. They were somewhat talkative on the drive there, Mizuki showed Takuma a few more of her poems, and he told her a bit more about the play. When they arrived, they were escorted inside and the play began relatively quickly.<br>The actor on stage extended his arm as if he was holding a delicate rose, then snapping it between his fingers "To be or not to be: that is the question:  
>Wether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer<br>The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,  
>Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,<br>And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep"  
>Takuma felt something lay against his shoulder. He inclined his head just slightly to see what it was. Mizuki rested her head against his shoulder and watched dreamily as the actor onstage continued the monologue. Takuma unconsciously wrapped his left arm around her and felt her nuzzle into him. She took a hand and rested it against his knee and he put his on top of it. They watched the rest like that, peacefully.<br>When it ended Takuma asked her if they could walk around for a bit. She agreed and they strolled around the quaint little town for a while. Takuma felt her hand slip into his own and tried not to seem bitter. It appeared, like most of the other day class girls he had met, she was beginning to fall for him. He hoped it didn't get out of his hands, he liked Mizuki, she was someone he could relate to and have a conversation with. She didn't think he was strange for staying up all hours of the day to read his books, or that his books were silly and stupid. She was a wonderful poet and a kind friend, to have her fall in love with him would only make the relationship they had turn sour.  
>Suddenly, he froze, eyes wide. <em>No.<em> he thought _Not here. Not now._  
>"Ichijo? Are you all right?"<br>He didn't look at her and tried to keep his voice free if alarm when he spoke. "Miss Natsujina, head back to the car, quickly. I'll be there in a few minutes."  
>Her expression grew worried. "Ichijo, what's wrong?"<br>He did his best to stay calm. If he was out here alone, or even with Senri, this would have been fine, but with a human... "It's nothing. Just a small matter I need to take care of."  
>She planted her feet firmly on the ground. "I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on." she said stubbornly. "Why do you look frightened?"<br>Takuma brought his eyes away from the ground and frantically searched the space around him. He could sense it getting closer. Fine. If she wasn't going to leave he wasn't responsible for what she saw. He put a hand under his jacket and gripped the sword hidden away beneath it. He grabbed her arm and propelled her behind him. "Stay back." the smile he wore had vanished.  
>She looked fearfully at the sky, even though she was a mere human even she could sense the fiend. "What is that?" she said horrified.<br>Takuma followed her gaze. There it was, a sanity lost, blood-thirsty level E. It gave a scream that could have shattered glass and coursed through the air toward him. He drew his sword and ran forward to meet it. They clashed together and the horrible screech of metal on metal filled the space surrounding them. He insane vampire held a long pipe in it's hand, and it had had quick enough timing to block Takuma's attack. It's dead, crimson eyes flicked over his shoulder and landed on Mizuki. Takuma realized this just to late. The vampire lunged toward the girl, fangs out, saliva dripping from it's mouth.  
>"No!" Takuma screamed and ran forward, threw himself in front of her, and intercepted the vampire's attack. In those few, crucial seconds two things happened; Takuma skewered the demon and- using his vampire abilities-finished it off. But he was too late, just too late. The beast had run him through with the pipe just before it's evil grin turned to ashes. He stood, frozen for a moment. Then his sword clattered to the ground as he fell to his hands and knees.<br>"Ichijo!" Mizuki screamed and ran to his side. Takuma coughed and Mizuki saw his blood splatter the pavement. She ducked down and frantically tried to help, but she froze at what she saw.  
>Takuma's face registered shock. He coughed blood again and felt his arms weaken. His eyes bulged open, paralyzed.<br>And bright red.  
>END OF CHAPTER 1<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

CHAPTER 2  
><em>You try to swim toward the surface,<br>But what will that bring?  
>You let yourself sink to the bottom,<br>But what will that bring?  
>Left with a choice you hang in the balance,<br>But what will that bring?  
>To drown in the blood is the easiest way,<br>But what will that bring?  
>Haunted, tormented, tortured, you try to escape it,<br>But what will that bring?  
>Lost in a world without words, you make your choice,<br>But what will that bring?_

_To drown in the blood._

_To drown in the blood._

Mizuki didn't move. She just knelt, paralyzed, by the vampire's side. She was fearful, wary, and confused. Her thoughts jumbled into meaningless words. Three semi clear thoughts made their way to the front of her clouded mind.  
><em>Ichijo is a vampire.<br>He's hurt badly.  
>I have to help him.<em>  
>She set her mind and pulled Takuma's left arm around her shoulders. He didn't try to resist – he wasn't in any position to – but he couldn't look at her, not with his eyes glowing. He allowed Mizuki to help him (painfully) to his feet, tried to stand on his own, but staggered as his vision swam. He looked down at where the sharpened end of the pipe had pierced him and his vision spun again at the sight. His white shirt was soaked with blood.<br>"Ichijo," Mizuki's voice sounded distant, but Takuma's drained body could still feel her next to him, "Ichijo, I know a place we can go, but it's a block away, do you think you can make it there?"  
>Takuma's world took another dizzying spin. He nodded, even though he was fighting himself. Mizuki was so close to him, and the smell of her blood was becoming more and more tempting. <em>This is what it must feel like to have no power over thirst for blood,<em> he thought blearily. Yes, he could make to the place Mizuki was talking about, but he didn't know how much longer he could go without sinking his fangs into her flesh.  
>She slowly started to walk with Takuma's arm wrapped around her shoulders. He tried to put as little weight on her as possible, but he was relying on her more and more with each step. His breath came in sharp, ragged gasps that never seemed to leave him with enough air to breath properly, and his vision was starting to go black.<br>They finally made it to the house Mizuki had spoken of earlier. She kicked open the door and slowly helped to lay the injured man on the couch. She gave him a single worried look, then darted down the hall calling, "Aunty Kana! Aunty Kana, come quickly!"  
>Takuma arched his neck back and tried to get enough air to breathe normally. The gray ceiling above him swirled. A single thought managed to get into his muddled brain, <em>At least miss Natsujina is all right.<em> Amazingly, he managed to smile once before his vision went black and he fell unconscious.

__Takuma didn't open his eyes for two reasons; He wasn't sure he could, and he didn't know if his eyes were red. He let his tongue move slowly to his eye teeth. A sharp point touched the top of it and could tell they were extended. Voices, cloudy and fogged came to his ears from his right, but their words were inaudible. He forced his fangs to retract and his eyes to turn back to there familiar emerald color before he dared to open them. His lids and lashes slowly parted in the middle.  
>Bleakly, he opened his eyes and cringed in the bright sunlight. A female figure swam into view.<br>Mizuki, still in her dress from last night, jumped and put a hand to her chest. "Ichijo! Thank goodness you're OK." She whipped around. "Aunty Kana, he's awake!"  
>Another feminine shape came into the picture. She looked a lot like Mizuki. Her hair – it was slightly longer then her niece's – was tied back into a bun with her bangs clipped to one side, and she was dressed in a simple, white, doctor's outfit. "Is he now? Well, good." She plopped down beside her niece and shook her head "A vampire. How..? I can't believe you were able to kill it. Persistent little pests vampires. Although, I guess everything comes with a price."<br>Takuma looked down and saw, for the first time, his injury. Someone had wrapped the right part of his chest in white bandages that had turned red with his blood.  
>It took all of his willpower to keep his eyes green.<br>"You're a lucky one. Whatever the hell that thing gotcha with barely missed your lung." Kana gestured vaguely to his wound. "Can't believe you were able to keep conscious, much less make it all the way here." Kana stood and put a hand on her hip. "Now that you're awake I can finally change those bandages..." she trailed off, strolling, away to find fresh clean ones.  
>Takuma switched his gaze to Mizuki. She gave him a sad smile, then bit her lip and looked away.<br>Suddenly it all came back to him. He flew upright. "Did you see-" he cut off with a sharp cry of pain.  
>The returning Kana shouted, "Don't move! Seriously, you gotta death wish or something?"<br>He laid back down, breathing heavily.  
>"Try sitting up slowly." He took her advice and eased himself up. She turned to her niece. "Mizuki, help the boy with his shirt while I get the bandages will you?"<br>Takuma raised an eyebrow. Boy? He was certainly older than Kana, even in vampire years he was nearly seventeen.  
>Mizuki blushed, but nodded. "I-"<br>"You don't have to," he said softly. He knew it would be awkward for her, but he had a feeling that wasn't what she was going to say. "Miss Nat-"  
>This time she cut him off "Mizuki. I think we're past formalities, call me Mizuki."<br>The tiniest of smiles crossed his face. "Yes. Mizuki. And you can call me Takuma."  
>He saw a mirror of his tiny smile reflected on her lips and she unwound the gauze around his chest. With his left hand he began to undo the buttons on his shirt, but his hand was brushed away. "That must be troublesome for you. Let me do it, I really don't mind."<br>Takuma sat back and allowed her to undo them and remove his shirt. He saw her blush very hard and try not to stare at him.  
>Takuma looked down at his lap "Did you see...what I am?" he said quietly.<br>Mizuki tapped his left shoulder, put a finger to her lips, and cocked a head toward the hall Kana had gone down, hinting she could hear them and was probably listening in on their conversation. She smiled sadly. "Aunty Kana may be a little overpowering, but she's right about one thing; vampires don't die easily. "  
>He breathed out deeply "She's correct, vampires certainly are persistent pests."<br>Takuma silently thanked Kana for her perfect timing as she plonked down next to Mizuki. She eyed him and whistled under her breath. "You OK with me cleaning you up handsome?"  
>He nodded. "Yes."<br>Kana gave him a look, but shrugged and dipped a washcloth into a pot of water she had brought. She brought the dripping cloth to his chest and muttered to herself. "This is worse then I thought. Well gorgeous, looks like you'll be staying with us for a few days."  
>Takuma looked up anxiously. Then his expression softened. "You really don't need to worry about me, I'm a quick healer."<br>Without taking her eyes off her work, Kana said, "I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, your lung was missed by a fraction of an inch, and even though it missed you still could have died. Even if you heal as quick as a vampire you're staying here until at least tomorrow evening."  
>Takuma wondered vaguely how she could be so ignorant.<br>She wrapped a clean, white bandage around the right side of his chest, around his neck for a hold, and then back around his chest. "Mizuki, will you take him to Raiden's old room?  
>Mizuki took a sharp intake of breath. Her aunt pretended not to notice.<br>Takuma stood slowly and saw she was quivering ever so slightly. He took one step, stumbled, and was caught at the arm by Mizuki. They exchanged smiles.  
>She lead him down the hall into a vacated room. "You can stay here for a while. There are some clothes in the closet you can wear, they may be a bit big though."<br>Takuma peered around the room as though he was mildly interested. "Who's room is this?" when he saw Mizuki's expression sadden he hurriedly tried to reclaim his words. "Eh? Sorry I shouldn't have said anythi-"  
>"It's Raiden's room. He was Aunty Kana's fiancée, but two months before they were to be married he suddenly vanished." She smiled sadly.<br>Takuma tried to think of something to say, but was saved yet again by Kana popping her head into the room "Hey, Mizuki, do me a favor, go out and pick these up would ya?" she flapped a shopping list between her fingers.  
>Any thoughts of her aunts lost fiancée vanished. "'Kay!" she shouted happily as she tore the list from her aunts fingertips and raced out the door. Kana laughed and smiled lovingly in her direction.<br>Takuma laid down on the soft bed and sighed with a smile. "I don't know how I can thank you, miss...?"  
>Kana groaned while simultaneously pinning her long hair back "Miss? That makes me shiver. I haven't been called 'miss' in years. You wanna make it up to me? Start by not calling me that. I'll tolerate Kanako, but I prefer Kana. Actually I'd really be happy if you call me 'Aunty Kana' like Mizuki does." She caught the look Takuma was giving her and shrugged. "Eh, don't worry I'm not her real aunt either. It's just a coincidence we look alike."<br>Takuma looked eagerly at her, waiting for more. "What do you mean?"  
>She sighed "Well, I guess since she already told you about Raiden, I can tell you a little about her." She leaned back and an image swam to her mind.<br>"It was a dark night that day. Raiden and I had gone out for the evening, just to see a movie. I remember it started to rain very hard. We had an umbrella, but it wasn't big enough to cover the both of us, so we took refuge under a small food stand..."_  
>The rain poured down like a river. The man in the coat, and the girl next to him, ran under the stand laughing. He turned around and the smile faded from his face. The girl went on chatting happily with the stand owner while the man slowly walked over to a small, blocked-off alleyway.<br>The small female figure cowered, whimpered, and tried to wriggle into the corner. The man knelt down and reached a hand out to touch her, but she only backed away even farther.  
>Finally the girl noticed and came over to him. Before she reached him she heard him shout, "Kana, get me some rice balls, hurry!" Without asking what they were for, she ran back over to the food stand and asked the man for some.<br>When she came back she saw the soaking girl hidden in the corner. The man took a rice ball and handed it to the girl. At first she hesitated, but hunger got the better of her and she warily excepted.  
>"Look at her arms and face," the man whispered. His girlfriend squinted through the rain. The girl was bloody and bruised.<br>"That's not natural. Someone did that to her," she whispered. She handed the girl another rice ball seeing as she had eaten the first. "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" she asked soothingly  
>The girl shook her head. Even though see seemed very afraid of the man, she also seemed to trust the woman. "Would you like to come with us?" she asked. The girl waited for a moment, but slowly nodded and began to cry. So cold. She was so cold.<br>The man immediately took off his coat and wrapped it around her and the woman next to him whispered "Get her into the car now. With that much blood on her _they _won't be far behind." She wrapped a hand under her cloak and gripped the long knife hidden away beneath its folds.  
>The man nodded and they both took one of her hands and pulled her toward the car parked close by. The man got into the drivers seat and the woman-after checking the area- got into the backseat with the young girl. She fell asleep quickly on the drive back.<br>_"Just before she fell asleep, I told her my name was Kana, and she told me her's was Mizuki, and just a few days after we found her she asked me if I was her mother. I told her no and she said 'But you're someone I care about, are you my big sister?' I laughed and told her I was to old for that. She got this look like she was thinking as hard as she could, and then she said, 'Then you must be my aunt!' like she was as proud as could be for finding that out." Kana's lips turned up, then they fell back into a frown. "You. You're one of them aren't you?"  
>Takuma looked up bewildered. Kana meet his gaze with hate in her eyes, spite in her words.<br>"A vampire."  
>The accused young man's eyes widened in shock. "How did you...?" he whispered hoarsely.<br>She gave him an evil grin and saw him cringe slightly. "Oh come on. I may not be in the hunting business anymore but my senses aren't dead, I can still tell a vampire when I see one." She cocked her head in the direction of his weapon. "Nice sword. I prefer knives, but I've used my fair share of swords too."  
>Takuma almost slapped a hand to his forehead in realization. "Oh, I get it, you're a hunter working for the Association." He didn't know whether to scowl or smile, so he just kept his expression neutral.<br>Kana lit a cigarette and waggled a finger at him. "Correction, former hunter. I ditched that damn Association not long after we found Mizuki and became a doctor instead. And good riddance too, they way they handle this town. But it did help to get Mizuki into Cross Academy that I happened to know Kaien. Although, he sure has gotten irritating," she muttered.  
>Takuma smiled. "That's our faithful Headmaster."<br>"When you get back, do me a favor and tell Kaien the Vampire Hunters Association has got a top hunter who's just waiting for orders from the president to sniff out that school." She shuddered. "Stupid cross-dresser. Gives me the creeps."  
>The door clicked open and a breathless Mizuki followed in it's wake. "I got the groceries! Are we making *shogayaki?" *pork with ginger*<br>Kana smiled happily. "Yep." She turned back to her house guest. "You OK with that, handsome?"  
>Takuma nodded. "Yes that sounds wonderful."<br>Kana, somewhat late, added "Just so you know that's your nickname now, handsome, get used to it."  
>Mizuki sat by the newly nicknamed young man and put a hand on her false relative's. "Aunty Kana, would you like to make the shogayaki or should I?"<br>"No it's fine I'll do it," Kana sighed.  
>Takuma looked out the window and saw that it had been dark for some time. He wondered idly how long it had been since he had woken.<br>Mizuki closed the door to the bedroom and sat down in the chair beside Takuma. She put her thumb in the middle of his palm and massaged it slowly. He hated to admit it, but it felt nice and he wanted her to continue. "You should get some sleep," she said softly.  
>He hesitated to respond, and when he did he chose his words carefully. "I'm all right. Besides, I would normally be awake and attending classes at this hour anyways." A soft smile crossed his lips. "How am I ever going to thank you and Kana?" he whispered softly.<br>"Well," said Mizuki, "I'm not sure what Aunty Kana has in mind, but I don't think it's got anything to do with money. As for myself...  
>"I've thought of a way you can start."<br>She flipped her hand over and wound her fingers around his. Her eyes closed and she leaned in so she and Takuma were only a few centimeters apart. He felt her hair brush his cheek as she took the same cheek in her left hand and...  
>END OF CHAPTER 2<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

CHAPTER 3

_A simply pretty princess,  
>A beautiful young man,<br>Both treading on tender feet,  
>Both planning their own plan,<em>

_The man tries to prevent it,  
>The woman craves his love,<br>Fate, their one deciding hand,  
>Watching patiently above,<em>

_And that same princess poet,  
>Has been waiting all this while,<br>A sweet, soft, tender kiss,  
>For a sweet, fanged smile.<em>

She kissed him.  
>Takuma's eyes flew open in shock and Mizuki felt him twitch as she pressed her lips to him. But then she felt him relax. The hand that wasn't intertwined with her's slowly moved up her neck and caressed her hair. Takuma closed his eyes and pressed his lips back into her's. She smelled nice, like a rose, and her lips were as soft as it's petals. <em>Is this what it's like to be in love?<em> he thought. _Never wanting to let her go? Never wanting her to stop? Wishing time was nonexistent? Is that what love is?_For once, he didn't want her blood, he wanted her kiss.  
>But it couldn't last forever.<br>Mizuki broke away and pulled her head back. Takuma willed her not to, he willed with all he could muster she wouldn't stop.  
>Mizuki tucked her hair behind one ear. "Thank you," she said softly.<br>Takuma tried to think of a way to react, a way Mizuki would be happy to see. She spared him the trouble, she didn't expect that of him. She had kissed him for her own selfish reasons. She stood and left the room without another word.  
>Takuma feel back and sighed. Confusion. That was the only reaction he had at this moment, pure confusion.<br>He heard a knuckle rap against the door and – without waiting for an answer – Kana popped inside. "Get changed outta that, handsome, dinner's ready in ten minutes and I expect you to sit at the table with us like a good boy."  
>Takuma forced back a glare. He wasn't one to get angry easily but seriously, boy? Again?<br>Before he got a chance to retaliate Kana mysteriously faded away and the door closed.  
>He sighed, took his time standing, and looked in the closet for something to wear. A plain, white, long-sleeved shirt was hanging on the first hanger he spotted, and a pair of simple brown pants were folded neatly underneath it. <em>Ah, that was convenient, <em>he thought to himself. He put on the light brown pants, loosely buttoned the shirt, and opened the door a fraction of an inch to see out.  
>"I can see ya, handsome. Come on out, the *shogayaki is ready," Kana called. *pork with ginger*<br>Takuma peered down the hallway, sighed, and made his way to the kitchen. Mizuki, who was making rice balls, looked up from her work and gave him a smile. "Take a seat, we're almost done," she said as if their little kiss had never occurred, implying that it was their secret.  
>Takuma got the message. "Everything looks great." He smiled and glanced around the table. Kana and Mizuki had obviously done their best, and it showed. All of the food was neatly prepared, and the aroma that wafted up from it was intoxicating. Takuma happily took a seat and waited for them to finish. Although he felt a pang of guilt for not helping, he was relatively sure Kana wouldn't have allowed it anyways.<br>He picked up his cup of water, swirled it around, and let out the tiniest of sighs. His blood tablets were still back in the dorms, probably lying on his bed, and he was beginning to both appreciate and miss them.  
>Mizuki set out three plates with shogayaki and rice balls and put one empty plate in a fourth, unoccupied spot. Takuma guessed who she had set a place for. The empty seat was for Raiden, Kana's missing fiancée.<br>Kana and Mizuki joined him at the table. The former hunter looked up from her dish. "Y'know, I never caught your name. Not that I'm gonna use it – in this house you're stuck with 'handsome' – but I still might need to know it."  
>The ever named 'handsome' looked up. "It's Tak-"<br>"Yeah yeah, I know that part, handsome, I'm talking 'bout your surname, not your given one."  
>"Ichijo," he said simply.<br>Kana paused. "Ichijo huh?" she muttered. "Never thought that name would apply to you..." But she just shrugged and continued eating.  
>They ate and talked some more (mostly about Cross Academy and how annoying the Headmaster had gotten since it was something they could all relate to,) until Kana insisted they should both get to sleep.<br>They heeded her word and went back to their rooms. Mizuki followed Takuma into his to make sure it was suitable. He laid down, fully clothed, put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.  
>"Everything all right?" Mizuki gave him a quizzical look, but he didn't see it through his closed eyelids.<br>"Yes, I'm fine. It just feels a little lonely without my roommate," he said, opening his eyes and staring blankly at the ceiling. A lot like his roommate would do...  
>Mizuki's face lit up. "You have a roommate? A boy in the night class? Which one?"<br>"Shiki. Senri Shiki."  
>"Brown hair, blue eyes, doesn't talk much?"<br>Takuma smiled. "That's him."  
>Mizuki pushed both of her hands onto the edge of the bed. "Once I see a face and hear the name that goes with it, it's involuntarily registered in my brain the rest of my life." She shoved his shoulder gently. "Scooch over."<br>He wriggled to the right side of the bed and she took a seat on the left. "Mizuki, Kana told me about how..." he thought for a moment on the best, and most careful, way to phrase his next words. "How you two met. She said you had been hurt. Could you tell me what happened?"  
>She coiled a hand around his. "When I was seven years old I ran away from home. I had to, it was my last hope.<br>"My father was an alcoholic, and he was abusive. He was always drinking, and whenever I tried to stop him, even if I didn't, he would hit me. He would hit me himself, with bottles, anything he could find, and my mother, she didn't care about me. I was a mistake, just an 'it', a _'thing' _that plagued their household. It got really bad during the last year; I wasn't allowed in the house and had to sleep outside. Eventually, one night my father beat me so badly I could barely move, so I ran away. There was nothing left for me there but torment and pain, I hadn't even been to school. So I just ran away."  
>Takuma squeezed her hand softly. "How are you still able to smile?" he whispered without a smile if his own.<br>Mizuki gave him one. "I met Radian and Kana. The changed my whole world, the only things they couldn't change were my poems. But I'm glad they're dark, it keeps me from forgetting what I went through." She turned to him. "What about you, Takuma? To be a vampire... How come you're always smiling?"  
>He smiled a small smile of his own. "I guess you could say we have more then just Shakespeare in common. Someone changed my life too."<br>"Well, if you can, tell them thank you for me."  
>She stood to leave when suddenly Takuma lunged out and grabbed her wrist. "Mizuki, wait!" He winced as pain burned throughout his chest and shoulder.<br>She looked at him first with worry, then with kindness. "It's OK, Kana ordered me to stay here until her 'patient' fell asleep." She left the room, promising to be back.  
>Takuma laid back down, embarrassed and confused. Why had he not wanted her to leave? He closed his eyes, even though it was the middle of the night, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally.<br>"Takuma, do you-" Mizuki bit her lip; Takuma was fast asleep. She brushed strands of wavy, blonde hair off of his forehead and planted a gentle kiss in their place. "Sweet dreams," she said.  
><em>"Who's there?" the voice called. It was frightened and anxious. The thirteen year old girl kneeling in the corner of the room looked up. "Takuma? Takuma, is that you?"<br>A tiny blonde head stuck into the dark room. "Hi Shika! Why is it so dark in here?" The little boy stood on tiptoe and flicked on the light-switch.  
>"Hhh," the girl gasped as the bright florescent light stained her blank eyes.<br>"Shi-kaaaaa, why do you just sit here all day in the dark? It's boring."  
>Shika turned her blind eyes to the sound of the tiny voice. "Takuma, come here, let me see you."<br>A tiny Takuma waddled boldly over to her and took her hand. "I'm right here," he said to the blind girl fearlessly.  
>She flipped her hand over, ran it up the length of his arm, and felt along the ridges of his face down to his mouth. "Where is it?"<br>He grinned broadly. "It's right here!" he said happily.  
>Shika almost smiled. Almost. "You have the most beautiful smile, Takuma."<br>"How do you know that? You can't see it."  
>She gave a shaky laugh. He didn't mean it in an insulting way, he was just too young to understand. "I can feel it. My hands can feel what my eyes cannot see."<br>Takuma rocked back and forth, then took off like a jet. "You're boring Shika!" he joked. "Come play with me! Neeeeeaaaaaooowww!" He spread his arms out like an airplane and ran around the room.  
>He stopped mid-flight and jumped up and down. "I know! Let's go play outside in the garden!"<br>Shika froze. "No," she said in a hoarse whisper, "No, I cannot. If I do.." her hands moved up toward her ears as if to block out some unheard sound.  
>"Aww, c'mon it will be fun!"<br>Suddenly her hands dropped from her head. "Takuma, do you know what the word _'confined'_ means?"  
>He thought about it for a moment. "Nope, does it mean 'the garden'?"<br>"It means I am stuck in here. I cannot leave, and if anyone found out I did, we would both be punished."  
>"Then we'll make sure they don't find us!" The overexcited child grabbed the blind girl's hand, pulled her out the door of the empty room, down the hallway and into the garden.<br>Shika froze when the bright rays of the sun stung her eyes. "Outside," she whispered, "am I really _outside?"_  
>"Come on Shika! Let's play in the river!"Takuma led her down to a small river and paddled his <em>_feet in the clear water.  
>"It is cold."<br>"Uh-huh, it's water, it's supposed to be cold."  
>Shika waved her hand through the air, trying to find her little friend. Takuma found it and took hold of it. He felt her hand flow up his arm and around his back as she pulled him into a hug. "Shi...ka?" he said.<br>"You have such a pretty smile Takuma. Promise me... Promise me you will always keep smiling, no matter what happens." Tears leaked out of her unseeing eyes and dripped down her face. "Please make me that promise."  
>"Of course I will Shika, but why are you crying?"<br>A heavy footfall sounded in the distance. "I cannot stay much longer Takuma, but if I ever meet you again, will you please smile for me?"  
>"Shika, what's going on? Shika? Shika!<br>"SHIKA!"_  
>Takuma blinked and stared at the ceiling. It had been a while since he had had that dream. "Has it really been eleven years?" he whispered<br>"Takuma?"  
>"Shi-" No. It wasn't his childhood friend, it was Mizuki.<br>"Are you OK? What were you saying?"  
>He swallowed. "Nothing. Do you know what time it is?"<br>She flicked a glance at her watch. "Almost ten-thirty. Kana said if you feel well enough we can leave anytime after noon-"  
>"-But not before then." Kana stuck her head inside. "'Morning handsome. Hey, while I'm here, can I ask you do do me a favor?"<br>Takuma sat up slowly and smiled. "Sure, what would you like me to do?"  
>"Gimme a ride to Cross Academy? I've got a score to settle with that Headmaster it's got."<br>"Of course."  
>"Good. Now go take a shower so we can get going. Down the hall and to your right."<br>He thanked her, showered and got dressed fairly quickly.  
>Takuma tugged at the collar on his loosely buttoned shirt so he could see his injury. "What's Shiki going to say when he sees this?" he sighed.<br>Mizuki giggled. "Given his personality I don't know if he'll say much."  
>"All right, let me rephrase; what will he <em>think<em>?"  
>A long black limousine pulled right up in front of them, a man dressed in a suit got out, and he bowed to them. "Master Ichijo and guests," he greeted them.<br>Kana whistled and pushed her sunglasses down. "Master huh? You're definitely an Ichijo all right."  
>Takuma grinned.<br>The drive there was somewhat peaceful, and Takuma had decided he liked Kana. Despite her difference from Mizuki and her overwhelming personality, she was easy to get along with.  
>They reached the grounds and Mizuki and Takuma headed one way while Kana headed another.<br>A series of knocks sounded against the door. "Who is it?" a singsong voice called.  
>Kana grimaced. Could this really be the same, legendary Kaien Cross she had known so long ago? Then she grimaced farther, it was the 'so long ago' that worried her.<br>She pushed open the door without answering and leaned against the doorway. "Is that REALLY you Kaien?"  
>A pair of glasses looked up. "Kanako?"<br>Kana couldn't answer because she was laughing into her hand  
>"Ah? Ah? Why are you laughing Kanako? That's not nice!"<br>"Pfft, what the hell is with that getup? Is this really the same legend I knew?" she laughed.  
>"Well, you're not exactly the same hunter either."<br>She glared at him. "I got a kid, how was I supposed to stay a hunter?"  
>"Oh, Kanako, you're almost as scary as Zero. And for your information, I have a child as well, a girl."<br>"I've got one too, smart-ass."  
>"At least you don't have to live with Zero, he can scowl better than you can!" she responded with a frightening scowl of her own. "Anyway Kanako, what did you come here for?"<br>"Message," she sat down in front of him snickered at his shawl, "from that stupid, cross-dressing president who's still contacting me."  
>Cross suddenly became serious. "Yes, what did he say?"<br>"He's got a hunter who's gonna be coming for you soon, Kaien. Ever heard of the name 'Yagari'? Word his he's rising through the ranks pretty quickly, I'd be surprised if you've got another year before he comes knocking down your door." Kana pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and blew a puff of smoke into the air.  
>"Kanakooo! There's no smoking allowed!"<br>She blew a cloud into his face. "I can still throw a knife Kaien, I suggest you let me smoke."  
>"Oh, Kanako, you're so scary!" Cross folded his arms and became serious again. "But I'm not worried about any hunter. The Association can play their cards, but, for the moment at least, I've got the winning hand."<br>"You sure you don't have a split personality?" Kana inquired.  
>"I've always been like this, even back when I was a hunter."<br>"And what do your students think about this? Especially those vampire students of yours?"  
>"How did you know about that?"<br>Kana blew more wisps of smoke into the air. "Long story, here's the short version; my kid made friends with one of them, he got hurt, aaand long story short he's been staying with us for a couple days." She caught the look on his face. "Don't worry, old man, he's a vampire, and an aristocrat at that, he's gonna be fine."  
>"I am not old!"<br>"You are too old. You can't be over two hundred and complain about me calling you old."  
>He cleared his throat. "Off the topic of my age, I assume your <em>kid <em>is the same one you and Radian picked up? The one enrolled here?"  
>Kana was quiet for a long time. "Yes," she said finally. "And I assume <em>your<em> kid is Juri's daughter?"  
>Cross smiled and quit fooling around for the moment. "Yes, that's my Yuuki." The small smile he wore dropped from his lips. "How long has he been missing?"<br>Kana twisted the ring around her finger. "Two years," she replied bitterly. "And I miss him everyday. How long has she been gone?"  
>"Nearly nine, and I miss her everyday."<p>

"Two years," Takuma said.  
>"And you haven't seen your childhood friend in eleven?"<br>Takuma shook his head, then another thought crossed his mind. "I think I might have a way to pay Kana back."  
>Mizuki looked up at him, eyes reflecting back the glimmer of the sun. "How?"<br>"Mizuki,  
>"What if I could find Radian?"<p>

END OF CHAPTER 3


	4. Chapter 4

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

OK, before this chapter begins, I wanna add in my comments. (If you want you can skip this.)

YES the poem is supposed to be improper!

That out of the way, I just wanna thank anyone who bothers to read my first attempt at fan-fiction, you all make me so happy! ^-^ Please judge me as harshly as possible, I need it. THANK YOU SO MUCH! \^o^/

Chapter 4

**Y**_ou,  
><em>**O**_r  
><em>**U**_s?_

**A**_lways close,  
><em>**N**_ever winning your love  
><em>**D**_o you love me too?_

**M**_yself,  
><em>**E**_nveloped in your love,_

**W**_as that too much to ask?  
><em>**A**_nd I see behind your eyes,  
><em>**S**_miling, yet sad_

**N**_ow I want help you, and know  
><em>**E**_verything about you  
><em>**V**_eiled eyes hide secrets  
><em>**E**_vening brings forgotten memories to light  
><em>**R**_emember those memories_

**M**_emories  
><em>**E**_ncase who you are  
><em>**A**_nd what you are,  
><em>**N**_ever  
><em>**T**_hink otherwise_

**T**_o you, am I special?  
><em>**O**_r just another memory?_

**B**_ecause to me, you are my  
><em>**E**_verything_

**YOU AND ME WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE.**_  
>Me and you was never meant to come true.<em>

__"What? How?" Mizuki whispered hoarsely.  
>Takuma tugged at his collar. He had never liked how much power the Ichijo family had, but this time he felt almost compelled to use it. In a mutual agreement, he made himself promise not to abuse the power his name gave him.<br>He put on a smile. "Nothing much, just a simple search."  
>Mizuki gave a shaky laugh and blinked back tears of joy.<br>Suddenly Takuma _felt _something. He could sense who was behind him and turned around. "Ah, Aido. Was there something you needed?"

Takuma rapped his knuckles twice against the door, then proceeded to open it. "You wanted to see me, Kaname?"  
>The pureblood sat with his back turned to his friend. He twirled a chess piece over in his hand. "Yes," he said slowly.<br>Takuma sat down in front of desk Kaname was behind and waited patiently. He occupied his eyes by watching the chess piece.  
>Kaname swiveled around and saw Takuma watching the piece. "Would you like to play?"<br>Takuma smiled, but it was a serious smile, not the happy-go-lucky-emotion-hiding smile he usually wore. "No thank you. It is not as fun when your opponent knows all of your moves. Besides I think I am already a piece on the chess board."  
>"I'm sad to see that you consider me your opponent," Kaname's eyes flicked toward Takuma's, "Ichijo."<br>"Only in this game."  
>Kaname looked back down to the black knight he held in his hand. "Yes, but there is still time, this game has not ended yet."<br>Takuma ran a hand through his long, blonde hair. "Kaname, Aido said there was something you wanted to tell me."  
>"Yes," he said drawing out the word like a snake. "Ichijo, stay away from that girl."<br>Takuma, smile still on his face, couldn't comprehend it. "What?"  
>"Stay away from that girl."<br>Takuma calmly said, "All right, I understand." He left the room shortly after.  
>Takuma leaned back against the door and closed his eyes. Thirsty. He was so thirsty. His fingers coiled themselves around his neck. "Welcome back, Takuma," he muttered under his breath. He swallowed hard, barely managed to keep his eyes evergreen, and went back to his room.<br>Yep, there they were all right. Takuma's blood tablets were right there on his bed where he had left them. He immediately took one and popped it into his mouth without letting it distill in water. The hard, outer surface broke on contact with his tongue and the powdery insides spread out across his taste-buds.  
>Takuma was a little astonished at how unsatisfactory they were, at least, compared to real blood. He sighed, he would just have to make due with the bland tablets, they were all he had.<br>Takuma pulled his shirt over his head and risked a look at his wound. Better. By far, but still horrible. He plopped down on his bed and put his hands behind his head. "Shika." he mumbled. His blood suddenly felt very hot, then very cold, all at once. He sighed deeply, and drifted into half-sleep.  
>"How did you get that?"<br>Takuma snapped himself out of his uneasy sleep and opened his eyes. Senri was standing at the foot of his bed, expressionless as ever. It took Takuma a moment to understand what his roommate was talking about. Of course. He was still shirtless, and large wound in his chest was still present.  
>He hurriedly put on a smile. "Don't worry Shika- I mean, Shiki. It's nothing."<br>Senri shrugged and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Doesn't look like nothing to me."  
>Once Senri was gone Takuma breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't realized he had been holding his breath.<br>His mind wandered back to the thoughts jumbled within it. Shika, Kaname, Mizuki, all were racing through his head. Shika, why was she invading both his thoughts and his dreams? Kaname, did he know Mizuki had found out he was a vampire, or had he just gotten a little too close to her? And Mizuki... What did her really think of her? Did he like her as a friend or... Something more?  
>Takuma was lucky his alarm was still set. He snapped out of a strange dream involving cookies, his sword, and the headmaster dressed as a girl. He shuddered, grabbed his things, and headed out to class.<br>"Hello Ruka," he said cheerily. His classmate ignored him, lost in her own thoughts about her precious Lord Kaname.  
>Takuma merely shrugged, and waited for the gates to unlock.<br>A click, the scraping sound of metal, and the gates pulled open with a reluctant groan.  
>Takuma, used to it by now, was able to cut out the deafening fangirl screams and (after making sure Kaname had his eyes on Yuuki) scanned the crowd.<br>Mizuki gave him a shy smile and a wave.  
>Teasing his lips was always a smile, but it was even broader than usually. The fangirls surrounding Mizuki nearly keeled over dead when they thought his wave was directed toward them.<p>

Takuma jerked awake. One hand was wrapped around his neck, the other, clawing the bedsheets.

It had been a long time since he had had a real nightmare.

Slowly, he unwound his shaking hand from his neck and loosen his death grip on the mattress. He was sweating and there wasn't a doubt in his mind his eyes were scarlet. Takuma sat up, took a deep breath, and put on a shirt without bothering to button it. A shiver ran down his spine as he made his way to the common room and opened the window, even though it was broad daylight. His hands latched themselves around the windowsill and he didn't bother trying to keep his eyes green. At least, if anyone saw him, they would just assume he was reading.  
>He breathed in the cool air deeply and opened his red eyes. Those same red eyes wandered down through the air scanning the grounds.<br>"Takuma!"  
>Receiving a jolt from the shout, he jumped and looked down. Mizuki, obviously ditching class, waved to him from the grounds. "Come down here! I need to talk to you!"<br>Forgetting his eyes were still red, (and Kaname's orders,) he nodded and ran down the steps to the door. "Mizuki, hello, was there something you needed?"  
>"Letter from Kana, it's addressed to Mizuki and "handsome", so I figured- hey, why are your eyes red?"<br>Takuma flinched slightly. Right. His eyes.  
>"Never mind, I really don't care if they're red or green, do you want me to read the letter?"<br>"Are you sure you really don't mind?"  
>"Yeah, when I was little I was always with Kana and Raiden, so I was around vampires a lot. You get used to it. Anyways do you want me to read it or not?"<br>"Sure, go ahead."  
>"<em>To Mizuki and handsome; I've gotten you permission from K-A-I-E-N..<em>."  
>"Oh, she must be talking about the Headmaster."<br>"Ah, all right, that makes more sense.  
>"<em>to come back to the house for a while. And no 'buts', handsome, this is an order from your doctor.<em>"  
>"Sounds like Kana to me."<br>Mizuki gave him a cheeky smile. "It does, doesn't it?"  
>"Listen, Mizuki, there's something I need to tell you."<br>"Huh? What is it?"  
>"Kaname has ordered me to stay away from you."<br>"… What?" she said, still smiling.  
>"Listen-"<br>"What do you mean? You're just going to go along with that?"  
>"It's Kaname's orders, I can't go against his will."<br>"Why not? I've never even met him before, are you just going to do what he tells you to?"

"I have to."

"I don't understand! Why?  
>"Because he's Lord Kaname!" he bellowed<br>Mizuki reeled back.  
>Takuma sighed and lowered his voice. "In the vampire world, there are different classes according to your blood-"<br>"I know, Kana told me about them. You're an aristocrat, right? Then why can't you just tell him no?"  
>"I can't go against him because he is a pureblood, and he's my friend," he added.<br>Mizuki looked boldly into his scarlet eyes. "Takuma, I want to talk to this pureblood lord myself."  
>"Wha-? I can't let you do that, it's the middle of the day."<br>"Well-"  
>"Ichijo."<br>Takuma felt another shiver run down his spine. He whipped around and cringed. "K-Kaname, I can ex-"  
>"So you're Kaname."<br>Takuma had to stop himself from clamping a hand over her mouth.  
>Mizuki kept her eyes focused and her voice level when she spoke. "Ah, my mistake, it should be <em>Lord<em> Kaname, correct?"  
>Takuma's still red eyes frantically darted from Mizuki, to Kaname, to the trees above him. Then he felt another jolt.<br>Seiren, like a black panther, was watching from the foliage, waiting to pounce and erase Mizuki's memories in an instant if Kaname gave the orders.  
>The pureblood looked like he wanted to silently burn holes through the girl. "I heard you were looking for me?"<br>"Well, given the circumstances, I would say you came looking for me. Is there anything you would like to ask me, Lord Kaname?"  
>"How did you come to know the existence of vampires?" He flicked a glance at Takuma, who, even though he was trying immensely hard to, couldn't keep his eyes green.<br>"Before I came here, I lived with vampire hunter Kanako Aoi, also known as the Joker."  
>"A vampire hunter's daughter."<br>"No, not her daughter. You could say I'm... Adopted?" she said, stretching the word.  
>That hit him hard. She couldn't possibly know about Yuki... Could she? "Your question?"<br>"I want to know the reasoning behind your orders. Why did you tell Takuma to stay away from me?"  
>Kaname inclined his head ever so slightly to his friend. "There's no need to ask my reasoning, just take a look at him."<br>Takuma couldn't look back at her. "He's right, Mizuki," he said to the dirt.  
>She stuck up her nose, even though it was killing her to act so pompous. "I don't see the problem," she said, linking her arm with his and pulling him towards her. "What's wrong with him? It's just Ichijo being himself. I can't find anything wrong." (Even though he couldn't tell, Mizuki calling him by his surname was a way of hinting to Kaname she respected her friend.)<br>Bad move. With Takuma barely containing his fangs, having Mizuki this close to him was almost overwhelming, and Kaname could sense too.  
>The pureblood sat silently watching to see how Takuma would take it.<br>He swallowed and looked anywhere but her. He could smell the sweet scent of her blood, but he didn't try to pull away.  
>Kaname narrowed his dark, brown eyes. "Perhaps I was wrong. <em>Perhaps. <em>She may be good for you, Ichijo." He snapped his fingers to the trees. "Seiren."  
>The latter sprang from the leaves and followed her master.<br>The second Kaname was out of sight, they pulled away from each other.  
>"I can't believe you did that, what were you thinking?" Takuma gasped, clutching his neck and shaking badly.<br>"I'm so sorry Takuma, are you OK?"  
>He looked at her incredulously. "Remind me again, why did you do that?"<br>"Kaname was testing you, to see if you would follow his orders, and once he saw your eyes were red, he was testing you to see if you could restrain yourself. I figured doing what I did was the best way to convince him of that."  
>"And what would have happened if I couldn't have restrained myself?"<br>"But you did right? So it doesn't matter-"  
>"Of course it matters! You have no idea how close I was to biting you! What would have happened then?"<br>Mizuki bit her lip and blinked back tears welling in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You have every right to be angry."  
>Takuma looked away, regretting what he had said. "I'm not angry I just... I just wonder why you take risks that could end up hurting you."<br>A minuscule smile teased her lips. "I really am sorry. Tell you what, to make it up to you, I'll show you my secret hiding place this weekend when we go see Kana." She saw Takuma raise a skeptical eyebrow, still panting slightly. "Come on, it's really special to me, even Kana doesn't know where it is."  
>Takuma sighed. "All right."<br>Both of them looked up, which was sort of pointless since neither of them could _see_ the bells bonging in the distance.  
>"You better get ready for class, Takuma." She walked up to him and, on tiptoe, kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Goodbye, I'll see you this weekend."<br>Unconsciously, Takuma's fingers ran up his neck, and slowly drew circles right where her lips had touched him.

"Hurry up!"  
>"Hold <em>on<em> Mizuki, I'm almost done."  
>"Aunty Ka-naaa, we need to go before it gets to dark!"<br>Takuma, who was being inspected by Kana, thought that going _after_ dark to Mizuki's hide out would actually be rather nice.  
>"OK, OK, I'm done. You're looking better, handsome, but you're still stuck coming over here for a check-up every weekend."<br>"I think you just want to see him, Aunty Kana."  
>"No lies will be spoken in my house!"<br>Takuma smiled. "Thank you, Kana, I'll be sure to keep stopping by."  
>"You better." She noticed Takuma watching as she twisted the ring around her finger. Immediately, she dropped her hands. "Old habit," she said.<br>"Takuma, are you coming?" Mizuki shouted.  
>"I'll be right there!" he called back.<br>Kana sat back and huffed. "So smiley," she muttered under her breath. "Well, you're free to go, handsome."  
>"We better not catch you following us!"<p>

"Don't worry, Mizuki, if I was following you, you wouldn't be able to catch me."  
>"Aunty Ka-naaaaa!"<br>Mizuki, who had gotten tired of waiting, ran into the room and blushed slightly at the sight of Takuma putting his shirt back on. He _was_ pretty handsome, after all.  
>She linked her elbow in with his. "Come on, let's go," she said, forcefully pulling him out the door and slammed it behind them.<br>"That Mizuki, I can't believe she isn't really ours, Raiden," Kana said softly. "She's so much like you."  
>"Mizuki?"<br>"Yes?"  
>"Why are we barefoot?"<br>She bumped Takuma lightly with her hip. "Because," she said pointedly. "You need to be barefoot to get into my secret hideout."  
>He sighed. "All right," he said a little uncertainly.<br>Mizuki led him down toward a small alcove of rocks and put a finger to her lips. She went through first, and Takuma, after some hesitation, followed her.  
>He emerged and had to blink back the glowing rays of the sun. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around.<br>A beautiful beach showered in the last peach rays of the sun stood before them. Clear, blue-green waves lapped the sandy shore and shell of all shapes, sizes, and colors were scattered about.  
>"Takuma, over here!"<br>The blonde boy switched his range of vision to the left slightly and smiled at her. He ran up the shore to meet her.  
>Mizuki smiled and wrapped her fingers around his. "Come on, I want to show you my second favorite spot."<p>

"What about your first favorite?"

Mizuki grinned slyly and put a finger to her lips. "Another day. It takes a while to get there, so we would have to be prepared."  
>Foam fingers of water tickled their ankles and the pink colored sun sank farther into the distance. "Here it is," said Mizuki, plopping down under a large tree and patting the space next to her. "I found this place when I was little. Actually, Raiden and I found it together. Whenever I got scared or angry and ran out I would always hide under this tree. Kana could never find where it was, so Raiden always came looking for me. He would sit with me, hold me in his arms and tell me everything was all right, then he would take me back home," she said softly. "I miss him so much."<br>Takuma forced back a smile. If he told her the investigation was going well, it would ruin the surprise, but he did feel a pang of guilt at not letting her know.  
>"Takuma, will you stay out here with me? Just until the sun goes down," Mizuki whispered, lacing her fingers with his again.<br>"Yes, I will."  
>"You're so sweet, Takuma, and you are so nice to me." Mizuki laid her head down on his shoulder and gazed out over the water. "No matter what I do you always forgive me, and you still say that you owe me. You're kind, and beautiful, and smart, and even though I don't deserve it, you still stay with me."<br>"Well, I'm certainly not perfect."  
>"No." Mizuki closed her eyes sleepily. "But I don't care, you're perfect to me. Takuma, I..." Mizuki could feel herself drifting off to sleep. "I love you."<br>Takuma felt her relax against his shoulder. "Are you asleep?" he said softly.  
>No reply.<p>

Takuma smiled lightly. But his smile seemed... Lonely. Closed off. He was very secretive, Mizuki could probably sense that at least. This was how he could get along with Senri so well, they just got each other. He lived a bit like a doll too. Always smiling to hide what he really felt. A very un-vampire way of handling things, but it worked well. This was the reason he could relate to Mizuki so well too. Similar personalities, completely different lives. But still, that undeniable crave for human companionship when no companion could suffice. That as what drove them together. What drove them to each other.  
>Takuma leaned down, brushed Mizuki's clean-cut bangs off of her forehead, and planted a kiss in their place. "Goodnight."<br>He stroked her hair until the last of the sun vanished. He was tired too, but he was afraid of reliving his nightmare. At least it hadn't come true today, when he had come inches away from sinking his fangs into her neck. He tried to force the image from his mind, but it still came swimming back. Mizuki, dead on the floor, blood pouring from two fang prints in her neck, Takuma's fang prints...  
>He held up his hand and saw he was trembling. Takuma pulled the sleeping girl close to him and felt a huge amount of relief at feeling her steady heartbeat.<br>It had been dark for a long time before Takuma scooped the sleeping poet into a princess hold and carried her back to her home.

"Mizuki, wake up." Kana said, gently shaking her.  
>"Mmm? Aunty Kana, where's Takuma?" She rubbed her eyes, sat up slowly, and put her round glasses back on.<br>"Waiting for you outside, he said he wants you to come see something."  
>"In the middle of the night? All right."<br>Mizuki sat up and walked toward the door, where Takuma was waiting, arms folded, with the biggest grin she had ever seen. "Open it," he said excitedly, cocking his head toward the door.  
>Mizuki, who by now was fully awake, sighed and pulled it open. Her eyes widened to the size of plates and she ran out the door in a flash. "Raiden!" she screamed.<br>The shatter of a dish drilled Takuma's eyes to a frozen Kana"What?" she said hoarsely. She dropped the dishcloth and ran beside Takuma. Her eyes widened as well and she nearly lost her balance. "Raiden?" she whispered, slumping against the door frame.  
>The man spun around, Mizuki in his arms, a smile even broader than Takuma's etched across his face. Laughing, he placed her back on the ground and noticed his fiancée for the first time. The grin on his face widened even farther as he raced up to Kana, embraced her, and kissed as though he might never get to again.<br>Tears streamed down her face as she pulled away from the kiss and let herself become enveloped in his arms. "You jackass. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought you would never come back," she whispered.

"I'm so glad you kept waiting for me," he whispered back in her ear.  
>Takuma, who was watching the touching scene from afar, was taken by surprise when Mizuki threw her arms around his neck.<br>"Thank you," she whispered, tears cutting tracks across her pretty face. "Thank you so much Takuma." She released him and ran toward Raiden, who took her in one arm, Kana in the other, and pulled them both into a soft hug.  
>Suddenly, a thin hand reached out of the black car Raiden had arrived in.<br>Takuma squinted. Who could that possibly be?  
>"Raiden?" said a woman's voice. "Raiden, where are you?"<br>Takuma's eyebrows knitted themselves together. Her voice sounded strangely familiar...  
>A black boot stepped out of the car, and the thin hand felt through the air as another on pulled the figure out of the car.<br>Takuma's eyes widened.  
>She had hair as pale as the luminescent moon, and eyes as ghostly as the orb that beckoned them.<br>"Shika?"

END OF CHAPTER 4


	5. Chapter 5

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

Heeeey! It's me, crimZonvampire!  
>Once again, I want to thank everybody for reading this chapter! ^-^<br>It's killing me to not have Takuma call Shika Shika-chan and Kana Kana-san. -_- the only reason I don't do that is for people who have only seen the English dubbed anime, so you better be happy!  
>I tried saying that seriously and started laughing. There's my personality for you, I can't be truly serious.<br>:{ mustache face!

CHAPTER 5  
><em>What do you wish for,<br>When your wish has been granted?  
>What do you dream of,<br>When your dreams have come true?  
>What do you pray for,<br>When your prayers have all been answered?  
>What do you long for,<br>When your longing is satisfied?  
>What do you wish for,<br>When everything you wanted has become yours?  
>What do you wish for,<br>When there are no wishes left to make?_

"Who is there?" Shika said. She took one step forward and lost her balance.  
>"Shika, watch out!" Takuma swept in as quickly as a shadow and caught her by the waist.<br>"Who are you? How do you know my name?"  
>Takuma paused. What was he supposed to tell her? "Shika, it's Takuma." He surprised himself by saying this, it was so blunt, it didn't sound like him.<br>He felt her tense up. "Takuma?" The back of her hand ran up his arm to his neck and caressed his face. She pulled her fingers through his wavy, blonde hair and brought them down to his lips. "If you are Takuma, then where is it?"  
>He blinked in surprise. "Where is what?"<br>"Your smile. You promised me that you would never stop smiling."  
>His heart skipped a beat. Had she really remembered after all these years? Both to make sure and because he was (after the initial shock) happy to see her, he closed his eyes and smiled softly.<br>Shika's hand fumbled across his mouth and her lifeless eyes widened. "It is really you, Takuma," she whispered.  
>He nodded and pulled her in closer. "Yes Shika, it's me."<p>

Raiden sat with his hands clasp together. Kana was leaning against his shoulder and Mizuki was laying across his lap, both of them were fast asleep.  
>"I see, so that's how you and Shika met." Takuma clasp his hands together as well.<br>"Yes," said Raiden darkly.  
>"Well, I assume that you will be staying here, and according to Mizuki, I have usually been staying in your room," Takuma said a little awkwardly. He smiled, hoping there was a simple solution. He felt bad, but didn't want to be kicked out.<br>"You're free to stay there." Raiden laughed. "My 'room' is really more of an office, but it subs as a guest room. I was sharing a room with Kana before I left and I hope I still will be."  
>"And what about me?" Shika stared with empty eyes into crackling fire to her right.<br>Raiden brushed Mizuki's hair slowly. "I'm sure Mizuki wouldn't mind sharing her room, if you're all right with it."  
>Shika nodded. "Yes."<br>Raiden smiled warmly, then he gently shook Kana awake, scooped Mizuki up in his arms, and carried her back to her room.  
>Takuma took Shika by the hand and led her into the guest room to get dressed. He was just about to close the door when he heard, "Takuma."<br>He looked back over his shoulder and saw Shika swipe her hair off of her back. "Would you help me with this?"  
>Takuma smiled a gentle smile and slowly unlaced the black strings zigzagging across her back, so the only thing across it was the few black straps of her bra. He was almost glad she couldn't see him, because he felt himself blush. Shika really <em>had<em> grown up, and that included her body. Eleven years had been a long time and now Shika was twenty-four. Not the small, breakable girl he had brought out to the garden that day.

Mizuki had woken up and barged into the room. "Taku-"  
>"Takuma?" Shika said emotionlessly.<br>Mizuki hid behind the door. Although it didn't feel right to spy, she didn't want to _leave_, I mean, she was all ready here. Giving up her rationalization, she stayed put, and even leaned in closer.  
>Shika was sort of like his roommate, Shiki, even the name was similar. "Yes?"<br>"Am I pretty?"  
>"Of course, you're very beautiful."<br>"What color is my skin?"  
>"It's very pale, like moonlight."<br>"What color is my hair?"  
>"It's blonde."<br>"Like yours?"  
>"No, lighter than mine."<br>"What color are my eyes?"  
>"Blue."<br>"Like the ocean?"  
>"No, softer, like... Like the color of the sky when you look at it through a cloud. Just a soft, gentle blue." Takuma brushed her hair to the side and slipped a white nightgown over her head.<p>

He turned around as she slipped off her purple skirt and was just about to leave when he felt a delicate hand rest on his shoulder. "Takuma," Shika said. Her voice was off though, darker, more serious, "I can sense it you know."  
>Takuma smiled sadly. "So you figured me out."<br>"Do you remember how I told you my hands feel what my eyes cannot see? Well, my hands aren't my only sense."  
>"That sixth sense, the sense of a vampire."<br>Shika turned him around and swept her hair off her neck again. To his surprise, (and Mizuki's,) Shika stood on her toes and put her neck right under his nose.  
>Takuma inhaled sharply. He could smell her blood, and it made his turn ice cold and turn his eyes red almost instantly.<br>"I know you've been craving it. Takuma, you can take my blood."  
>Behind the door, Mizuki gasped.<br>"No, I-" he tried to push away from her, but, as fragile as she was, she kept him in place with expert strength.

"Takuma, think of this as my payment. Besides, would you rather it be from I, or her?"  
>He swallowed. How many times had he almost bitten Mizuki, and how much longer could he go before he did?<br>Shika wielded him likes sword and spun him to a seat on the bed. She sat down on his lap (behind the door, Mizuki stifled a little squeak, after all, Shika was a grown woman,) and moved her neck toward Takuma's mouth.  
>"I'm sorry." he whispered, barely able to conceal his long, white fangs.<br>"So am I."  
>Takuma pierced her flesh with his eyeteeth and felt her skin break so the warm blood poured over his tongue. To his disgust, the taste of her blood was all to familiar. He closed his crimson eyes and gulped her crimson blood. It ran down his throat and made his body tingle. He pulled Shika in closer and drank by the mouthful. How he had longed for this. The rankings of stature for vampires, pureblood, aristocrat, even level E, Takuma assumed they not just measures of power and authenticity, but measures of how long one could endure blood-lust, and he had reached the end of his limitations.<br>Mizuki had clamped a hand across her mouth to keep from screaming out loud. The other hand was across her chest, trying to slow her breathing and her heart rate. For the split-second in between seeing his fangs for the first time, and watching them sink into Shika's skin, she had seen a devil. A bloodthirsty monster, with her beloved Takuma's sweet face, a fiend hidden behind that smiling mask, a beast in human form, a vampire.  
>Mizuki was shaking horribly and couldn't keep her scream held inside for much longer. Risking a glance, she saw Takuma had closed his eyes, and since Shika was blind, if she could slip out without a sound... But the sight of blood dripping from Takuma's fang marks frightened her to the bone and doubled her trembling. Slowly, she slid out from behind the door and pounded into her room.<br>Mizuki dove onto her bed and screamed into the sanctuary of her pillow. She shouted for what seemed like hours, then finally came up, still quivering. How could her sweet Takuma be that demon? She had known he was a vampire for a while now, but he had never pictured him as an actual vampire, and it shook her to the core.  
>Takuma finally wrenched his fangs away from Shika and breathed heavily.<br>"Are you all right, Takuma?"  
>How could she say that now? Of course he wasn't all right! "No, but I'll be fine. Are you OK?"<br>She touched her fingers to the bite and licked the blood off of them slowly. "Yes, it does not hurt, but it is too obvious just like this."

Takuma scooted her off of his lap and unwound some of the extra gauze Kana had given to him. Carefully, he wrapped it around her wound, then tied a black ribbon across that. "Now it looks more natural," he said softly.  
>Shika reached out her hand and squeezed Takuma's gently, with a knowing, understanding touch. She stood, linked her arm with his, walked across the hall to her room, and paused at the door. "You are so... Human, Takuma. You have never seemed like a vampire to me, yet, in some ways, that makes you seem even more like a vampire."<p>

Mizuki could hear them right outside the door. She clutched her pillow to her chest and tried to block out Shika's harsh words.

"Feigning innocence, faking smiles, pretending everything is all right when inside you are rotting. Every teardrop you refuse to cry, every scream you deny screaming, you will only drown yourself farther."

Takuma smiled wickedly. "I've been in too deep for years. I can't escape now. That's why, when I'm fully healed, I will quit associating with Mizuki."

Mizuki let out a muffled gasp.

"Do not dare, Takuma!" Shika suddenly flared up angrily. "If you stop visiting her, you will only pull her into your bloody pool and drown her too! Do you not see? If you stop this, you will surely hurt yourself _and _her!"

Takuma fell back. He had never seen Shika angry before.

She yanked open the door and vanished inside without another word.

Mizuki cringed and held perfectly still so Shika couldn't tell she wasn't sleeping.

"You know, what I said was true," she said, still fuming.

Maybe she was just pretending...

"I know you are awake."

Never mind.

Mizuki sat up, brought her knees to her chin and smushed the pillow to her chest. "What do you mean?" she whispered.

"I know you witnessed him and I. I want you to promise me you will not tell him you saw."

Mizuki was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Do not tell him, but I want you to go to him now."

Mizuki blinked once, gulped, then whispered, "All right."

Takuma scrubbed the blood from his mouth and chin and watched it drain down the sink with the rest of the water. He rested his hands on the edge of the sink and took a deep breath. Drinking blood had never been his favorite pastime. As the last of the ruby liquid ran down the drain, Takuma switched his eyes back to there usual bright emerald.  
>Mizuki took this as the OK to knock and rapped the door. "Takuma?"<br>"Mizuki?" Takuma abruptly threw the the bloody rag he had been using into the laundry bin right before the door opened.  
>"It was unlocked. Will you come outside with me? I knew you would be awake, so I figured I could ask you."<br>His heart missed a beat. Had she seen him? "How did you know that...?"  
>"You're nocturnal, right?"<br>Phew. She hadn't brought it up. "Sure, where?"  
>She grinned. "My secret hiding place. There's more to it than just the beach, you know."<br>Takuma was slightly taken aback. "All right I guess."  
>Mizuki grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out the door.<p>

"Wait! It's the middle of the night, Mizuki!"  
>The poet tossed her glasses, jacket, and shoes onto the sandy shore and dove into the icy, indigo water wearing just shorts and a tank top. She popped up and slicked her dripping bangs back. "Oh, come on! It's not <em>that<em> cold, and it's the only way to get to my favorite spot!"  
>Takuma looked unsurely at the water, but slowly waded in up to his waist. A shiver ran down his spine. Uh-huh, <em>sure <em>it wasn't cold.  
>Suddenly, Takuma felt something cling to his arm and force him under the water.<br>Gasping, he finally broke the surface of the ocean to the sound of Mizuki's laughter. "You've got to get wet, stupid! We have to swim there!"  
>Takuma shivered again. "And where exactly are stupid and company venturing?"<br>Mizuki laughed again and floated on her back. "To those cliffs." Then she caught his look. "Don't worry, we'll be fine!"  
>Reluctantly, he swam after her and then clambered up onto the rocks. To his surprise, Mizuki was waiting on the floor of a medium-sized cave.<br>She shook the water from her hair, lit a small fire, and then plonked down onto the floor. Outside, a light rain started, steadily pouring more and more. "I've never shown this place to anyone you know, not even Raiden."  
>Takuma wasn't quite sure how to respond.<br>"Come here, your hair is still soaking wet. Might as well dry one thing," she said, reaching for a towel.  
>"I can do it."<br>"No, let me, I don't mind. You should take off your shirt too, or else you might catch a cold," she said, blushing even while she spoke over the rain.  
>Takuma squirmed out of his shirt and blushed as well as she knelt down and toweled off his hair. He cussed in the back off his mind, which was not a common occurrence, and averted his eyes. Why did she always have to smell so good, dammit!<br>He was caught off guard when her hands suddenly slowed. She leaned in closer to him, and he blushed red as a beet and tried to move back, but the wall block his fruitless retreat. Mizuki pressed her forehead to his...  
>Once, twice, three times they kissed before the lightning crackled and the thunder rumbled.<br>Mizuki squealed and jumped back. She was reminded of the horrifying night she had ran away from her abusive parents.  
>"Mizuki?" Takuma surprised himself by speaking, since his lips were still numb from her kisses.<br>He placed a hand on her shoulder and felt her trembling.  
>A sudden, protective feeling caused him to pull her in and press her head to his chest. "Shh," he said soothingly, "it's all right."<br>Mizuki gave him another kiss, then snuggled up next to him.  
>Takuma pulled a blanket around the both of them. Even though the fire was burning, they were both shivering.<br>Every time the storm would act up, Mizuki would start and then settle again.  
>Suddenly, she felt Takuma go strangely limp then jolt awake. "Mm," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "I must have fallen asleep."<br>Mizuki tugged his head back down onto her shoulder. "Are you tired?" she whispered with a soft smile.  
>"Yes," he replied quietly. He was exhausted, he had been up the previous night, all through the morning, and he could just see dawn breaking on the horizon again.<br>"Then sleep."  
>Takuma kept his eyes shut and let his senses rest.<br>"Takuma, what do you want for your birthday?"  
>"... A poem," he muttered sleepily. "... Write me a poem."<p>

Mizuki blinked once, twice, then finally her eyelids fluttered open. Then they grew as big as dinner plates.  
>Takuma had his left arm over her stomach and then around her waist. The other hand was up next to his sleeping face, tangled in his hair and her's. Both of them were under the blanket.<br>Together.  
>Just them.<br>All alone.  
>Mizuki shot up and immediately with this realization and backed away. Takuma, on the other hand, merely rolled over in his sleep.<br>"Nngh," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Wha time izzit?"  
>Mizuki didn't respond.<br>"I fell asleep longer than I thought. We better get going before Kana has a fit."  
>Forgetting the moments awkwardness, Mizuki suddenly gave him an evil grin. Then she ran up behind him, shoved him out of the way, and dove headfirst into the water almost twenty feet below. "Takuma, jump in!" she shouted, waving him down.<br>Takuma – against his better judgment – plunged in after her, showering his friend in a spray of water. He sprang up and shook his head like a dog.  
>"Stop it! Stop it! You're splashing me!" She scooped her hands under the water and sent a huge wave his way. Takuma dodged the attack and doused her in water instead. Mizuki laughed and tried to avoid the approaching water, but failed to and was drenched again. The waves finally came to a stop. Mizuki felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her from behind. She accepted the soft embrace and allowed herself to be brought in.<br>"Thank you, Mizuki," he whispered.  
>Mizuki smiled to herself. "You're welcome."<p>

"You have a piano?"  
>"Hmm? Oh yeah. It's actually Kana's, but, before he left, Raiden was teaching me how to play." She drummed her fingers over just a few keys and was taken by surprise when the second part of the piece was played behind her.<br>"It's a duet, right?"  
>"Yeah. Do you know it?"<br>Takuma grinned. "Yes I do."  
>Mizuki sat down on the bench and patted the place next to her for Takuma. "You start and I'll come in."<p>

Slowly, then picking up speed, Takuma flexed his slender fingers over the keys. In return they sent out a beautiful melody. Then he cut himself off. "Wait, we also need a singer."

"Well, do _you _know anyone who sings?"

"It just so happens I might. Stay here." Takuma bolted inside the house and came out a second later, bringing Shika with him.

"Takuma, you know I do not sing in front of people."

Takuma motioned for Mizuki to help him convince her. She caught on quickly and took Shika's hands in her own. "Pleeease Shika? I bet you have a beautiful voice."

Shika's pale face actually gained some color for a moment. It was one of the few times in her life she had been embarrassed. "Fine. But only a single song."

Takuma began the piece once more, with Mizuki and Shika closely following. Mizuki had been right, Shika had an exceptional voice.

A linked Kana and Raiden came to the doorway. "Thank _god_ you two are back! Where the hell were ya-"  
>Raiden put a hand over his fiancée's mouth. "Shh. Listen."<p>

The two very different pieces played out over the garden from the crystalline piano, and a complexity of lyrics came out clear and cool to compliment them.

"Kana," said Raiden, "That is the song I want played at our wedding. All three of them, in perfect harmony, the background to the marriage of my beautiful wife." He took her left hand and kissed her fingers, upon which a ring had remained for over two and a half years.

The last notes of the song droned to a close.

From out of the brush, a man that can only be described as scraggly broke through the brush and approached Takuma. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a girl around your age, her name is 'Akira'. I know it's a common name but-"

The man was cut off by a horrible screech of Mizuki's hand pounding down against the keys. "You?" she said, malice so deeply embedded in her voice it made Shika shiver.

The man's eyes widened. "Akira? A-Akira it's me-"

"Get out of here, you bastard!" Mizuki screamed, spitting with rage. She lunged forward in an attempt to gouge the stranger's eyes out with only her fingernails.

Takuma instinctively caught her and held her in place while she struggled toward the shocked man. Even with a vampires strength, she was difficult to contain. "Mizuki, what's going on?"

Grinding her teeth and still clawing at the man, she spat, "That man, that- that horrible man!

_ "_That _bastard _is my father!"

END OF CHAPTER 5


	6. Chapter 6

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

Hola! Yo soy crimZonvampire!  
>I like the idea of all vampires being unstable. I mean, if vampires could control themselves we never would have known they existed!<br>Personally, I believe vampires, werewolves, etc. Really do exist... I'm just not sure what's true and what's not...

For those of you who don't notice, I like to add little details into my poems that a lot of people don't notice. There's one in my first poem; twice it says _this is the age of vampires _but at the end it says _welcome to the age of vampires._  
>I've been having writers block a lot lately, so I'm sorry if my story isn't all that good.<br>I feel like the story has kind of... Neglected Takuma recently, so I'm trying to pull him back in. It's really hard though, the characters in this story are interesting to write about, especially their pasts. I just feel like there is already a lot known about Takuma, so I can't develop him as much as my other characters. That's what I get for writing fan-fiction. Oh well, I'm having too much fun with this story \^-^/ Yaaaay~!  
>My Vampire Knight Parings<br>Yuuki-Zero  
>Kaname-Sara<br>Hanabusa-Sayori (Yori)  
>Akatsuki-Ruka<br>Senri-Rima  
>(Before he died) Ichiru-Maria<br>And that leaves Takuma, Cross, Yagari, and Seiren... But I really don't think any of those match up. Since Takuma is my second favorite character overall, (Zero fangirl for life, seriously, just look in my locker,) I decided my fan-fiction would be about him! ^-^

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!

CHAPTER 6

_This is the glorious birth,  
>Of those who walk the earth,<br>With fangs poised to bite,  
>This is the newest reign,<br>Of those left untamed,  
>Creatures of the night,<em>

_This is the age of vampires,_

_Blood will be spilled,  
>Humans will be killed,<br>With eyes glowing red,  
>Horrid cries of pain,<br>All for their own gain,  
>The wrath of the undead,<em>

_This is the age of vampires,_

_Teeth two inches long,  
>Jaws frightfully strong,<br>In the dark they dwell,  
>Faithful servants of the moon,<br>Bringers of impending doom,  
>Born in the flames of hell,<em>

_Welcome to the age of vampires_

"Send us! Send us! Transport us to that wretched kingdom and make all those pitiful beings grovel at thine feet!" hissed the many voices.  
>The <span><strong>thing<strong> looked down at them reproachfully. "Thou art disdainful! Pitiful? How can thee protest that existence pitiful when it has so much more than thy's? Oh, woe is me!" it whined.  
>"Send us! Let us flee to this unlawful kingdom!"<br>"Have thou no patience? Wait, children! Wait! Give me leave, for many a thought are entrapped in thy head at this doleful hour. Get you gone, give me leave for a while."  
>"Send us!" they hissed mercilessly.<br>"Woeful snakes, quit your hissing and I admonish thee to vanish from my sight! Those unwise creatures will be ours in due time, but as of late I must deliberate. I promise thou, thou's wish shall be granted thereafter."  
>The flaming beings hissed and crackled at the proposal, but slinked away into the dark once more.<br>The **thing** paced – if you could call it that – back and forth while pondering the question. How was it to invade the strange planet with merely it's minions? That in itself was a challenge. Much less making them blend in with the utterly idiotic beings that already inhabits the place while allowing them to retain their powers. Complex yes, but not impossible. Yet even for a divine being such as itself, the universe had limitations. If one such as itself could indeed create and mold a figure that matched those of the planet... Well, that was a feat so large it was unrealistic. Unthinkable. But what about a body, just an empty shell that resembled them... Yes, that was entirely possible. Of course a few modifications would have to be made, they couldn't exactly match the beings and still manage to keep a grip on their abilities. But, as long as it was nothing too noticeable, the **thing** could pull it off. But of course there would have to be ruling hours. The children of the sun did not follow one as dark as the **thing** easily- The dark. That was it! The thing would call its servants in the dead of the darkness, or, "night" as it was fabled on the planet. Now, returning to the mark that would separate its slaves from the low-life down there. Figuratively, they had sharp tongues, but literally? The **thing** shook the thought from its mind. That wouldn't do. But what about teeth? Yes! Yet another solution! Many creatures on the planet had fangs, a few more wouldn't make a difference. What else? Eyes? Possibly. The flaming creatures would have to have some sort of supplement on the planet, preferably related to eradicating the entire race of those already there. Blood. Use their newly-acquired fangs to make them suffer and bleed to death whilst replenishing their energy. But if the blood blended with the complex interiors of the new creatures- no. it must have some way of showing itself. What about the eyes? In the dead of "night" surely it would not be seen if their eyes turned the color of blood and fire. Yes, it was all coming together. Those fools known as humans would no longer reign over the planet; the **thing** would. Its new name had ironically been given to it by the foolish humans on the strange planet, Earth. Moon. The thing liked the sound of it. Powerful. And the nicknamed "stars" as the minions were known, would become creatures of fang, fire, and blood.  
>The stars would become vampires.<p>

Mizuki ground her teeth. "Why the hell did you come here?"  
>"Listen to me, I came to find you and bring you back, Akira-"<br>"Don't call me that! Akira died all those years ago when you threw her out in the gutter and left her there to rot!"  
>Her father cringed. "Please, Ak-" He clamped his mouth shut when – at the mention of her given name – shy, sweet Mizuki shot him a glare so fierce it even surpassed anything Zero could manage. Her father, who if looks really could kill would have been dead long ago, spluttered back into speech. "D-daughter, I've changed. Believe me, I deserve a second chance."<br>"Deserve? DESERVE?" she roared. "What on earth makes you think you deserve a second chance? You want to know why I changed my name? Akira means bright! BRIGHT! Tell me, what was so bright about that miserable existence!"  
>"Y-you were. Your mother and I, you were the bright ray of sunlight in our lives."<br>"Cut the crap already! What, so now I'm not just the 'mistake' anymore? You never told me you needed me! Every day I was beat bloody at your hand, and mother, she never cared about me! 'Hit her again!' she would screech! Why should that awful _hag_ deserve-"  
>"DON'T YOU DARE CALL YOUR MOTHER A HAG!" he screeched. "... Three years... Three years after you left she got sick and passed away. Are you happy? Are you happy now that she's DEAD?"<br>Mizuki was silent for a moment. She took a deep breath and managed to contain her anger. Even after all of the horrid things he had done to her, she couldn't yell at him when tears were cutting tracks down his scraggly face. "I'm not happy, you idiot. How could I be happy that someone is dead? But I'm not going to say I'm sad either and start crying over her death."  
>"Then what is your reaction?" he said gruffly.<br>"Pity. I feel pity for you. She was the only person you were really attached to," Mizuki exhaled. "Listen, your not going to change my mind. We're done here. I'm leaving."  
>"I wont stop trying to convince you I'm genuine, Ak-"<br>"Mizuki." She had stopped at the back door. "It's not like I want you calling me by my new name, but anything is better than _that_ one."  
>Her father choked out a laugh. "All right then, Mizuki."<br>She nodded, closed the door behind her, went into her room and fell down onto her bed.  
>The door to her bedroom creaked open. "Mizuki? You OK, kiddo?"<br>Mizuki cradled her pillow closer. "Raiden, will you tell me the story of vampires again? Just the beginning part, about how they were born from stars?"  
>Raiden smiled and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Yes, of course I will."<p>

"You didn't _think _to _tell _me this _when _you came _back instead of now?_"

Raiden rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Kana, please stop speaking in italics."  
>"Have you told Mizuki yet? The one who cried for days after you left? The one who set your place at table every night for two years since? HUH?"<br>"No. Not yet. I was planning to, but..."  
>"There's no 'buts' to this, Raiden. What about Shika? Where's she gonna go?"<br>"I was going to enroll her at Cross Academy for a bit, just until we can find a suitable place for her."  
>"And I suppose you expect me to work out the bugs with Kaien?"<br>"Well, that would be nice..." he muttered.  
>Kana smirked. "You incompetent fiancee," she said, smacking him across the back of the skull. "And shave that will you?"<br>Raiden laughed and knuckled his jaw. "It's just stubble!" he called to her retreating back. He turned just in time to avoid a spoon sent purposefully flying at his head. He dashed out from behind the chair, grabbed Kana by the waist, picked her up, and threw her onto the couch.

"Hey!" she laughed.

Raiden leaned down, kissed her once, then fell down onto the floor next to her. "Say, Kana..."  
>"Mmm?"<br>"Where do you want to get married?"  
>She paused. "Dunno. I just wanna be outside. We can get married in our backyard for all I care."<br>"What about guests?"  
>"Well, neither of us are on good terms with our parents, and do you really think I'm one to make friends with?"<br>"Well, you're surly, you've got a bad temper, you smoke-"  
>"You should be lucky I smoke, or would you prefer I took up my other habit again?" she said darkly.<br>"Smoke all you like."  
>"That's what I thought."<br>Raiden grinned. "I've got no one to invite. Hell, besides you and Mizuki, no one has seen me for the past few years. _Maybe_ a couple of distant family..."  
>"What about your sister?"<br>"In Germany. Didn't even know I had left. I guess I should invite her to my wedding. And we're inviting Kaien, Kana."  
>Kana groaned and scowled. "Fine, as long as I get to marry you." <p>

Having been caught up in a murder mystery, Takuma Ichijo was the last one out of class. Good thing too, because someone was waiting for him.  
>"Psst! Takuma!"<br>Takuma nearly jumped out of his skin and his head swiveled around so quickly he cricked his neck.  
>"Takuma, come here!"<br>Rubbing the sore spot, he gazed around a little slower this time, and then clambered into the growth concealing his friend. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "I thought it was past curfew for day class students."  
>Mizuki grinned. "Shh, it is. I wanted to be the first one to congratulate you." Mizuki stood up on tiptoe, kissed him once right on the mouth, then shoved a red wrapped package to his chest. "Happy Birthday!" As quick as a fox, she darted away toward the girl's dormitories, leaving a slightly bewildered, yet happy, Takuma in her wake.<br>Takuma slid into his room, hoping his roommate wouldn't have noticed his absence, (Senri did but decided to stay silent. It was Takuma's birthday, after all,) and crashed down onto his bed. He cut the strings with his teeth and ripped off the red wrapping paper. He grinned at his present.  
>It was a poem.<em><br>_

_Seventeen years  
>Seventeen birthdays<br>Seventeen parties  
>Seventeen cakes<br>Seventeen "What I want is..."  
>Seventeen experiences<br>Seventeen sleepless nights beforehand  
>Seventeen excited smiles in the morning<br>Seventeen wishes  
>Seventeen happy birthday songs<br>Seventeen times to look your best  
>Seventeen times to send out invitations<br>Seventeen decorated rooms  
>Seventeen times you've gotten gifts<br>Seventeen "Hello guests!"  
>Seventeen celebrations<br>And your seventeenth "Happy Birthday!" shouted out by me! _

Kana liked her big, brown, hunter's coat. It was long, not so long that it dragged on the ground, but it did billow about her ankles. Aside from that, it had deep pockets for keeping cigarettes. It had been custom made for her in her hunting days, and hidden in the back was a little section for her knives. It could withstand the cold, but the fabric could air out in the heat. Bulletproof, water resistant, fashionable, everything she had need back then, and it was still nice in the present. Useful, in her hunting days. Still useful now.  
>"Kaien! Lemme in!" Kana had decided to bang on the door with her boot instead of just knocking like a regular person, and ended up kicking Cross in the shin.<br>Well, that set him off. Within seconds, the _prestigious_ Headmaster of Cross Academy was rolling on the floor, howling and clutching his leg.  
>"You big baby! Get up or I'll hitcha again!" Kana balled her hand into a fist and waved it around like a flag.<br>Cross leapt up from the floor. Obviously, he had just woken up. His hair was down and matted, he had dark circles under his eyes, and Kana had thought up a nasty word to describe his pink night cap. "Kanako," he yawned, putting on his glasses as he spoke, "what are you doing here?"  
>"A couple of reasons. I've been getting a lot of phone calls from the Association. I've heard you have been making a few deals to keep your own secrets."<br>"Secrets?"  
>Kana grit her teeth. In a flash she had whipped out a knife concealed in her coat, pressed it up against his jugular, and pinned him up against the wall. "Don't play games with me, dammit! I know that Kiryu boy is here, and he's getting worse! You've been asking the Association to keep quiet, and in return you've told them I'll come back into work! You know why I can't go back there! Because... Because!" Suddenly Kana dropped off. The corners of her mouth twitched and formed their way into a smile. She laughed slowly, then faster, then cut herself off again entirely, this time looking horrified. She dropped her knife and reeled back. Shakily, her hand dived into her pocket and produced a cigarette and lighter. Still panicking, she clicked the the lighter rapidly until she could taste the smoke inside her mouth and calmed down. "You... You know why I can't return to hunting."<br>Cross, who had been surprisingly cool under pressure, flicked a glance toward the case where his sword had sat motionless for the past nine years. "Yes, and you understand why I can't return to hunting either."  
>Kana followed his gaze. "Ain't broken that promise to Juri yet, have ya?"<br>Cross took a seat again and continued. "You said you were here for a few reasons?"  
>Kana exhaled a cloud of smoke. "I have a little favor to ask of you. A friend of mine, she needs to enroll in this school on short notice. With all the shit you've done to me I figured you owe me this one."<br>Cross sighed. "You haven't changed a bit. All right who is she? Another day class student?"  
>"Nope, vampire."<br>"Now, Kanako, you know I let Kaname run the night class. He wont except anyone other than-"  
>"Purebloods and aristocrats, yeah, yeah, yeah, got it covered. She's an aristocrat, ask handsome if you don't believe me."<br>Cross knitted his eyebrows together. "Handsome?"  
>"That smiley kid. Ah, the blonde one, what's his real name?"<br>By then, Cross knew who she was talking about. Blonde had deduced it down to Hanabusa or Takuma, and the former had already acquired a nickname. But he rubbed his sore neck and decided Kana could think it out herself.  
>"Um... The one with the grandpa... Ichijo! Something-or-other Ichijo!"<br>"Who?" said Cross innocently.  
>"I've still got my knife, Kaien."<br>"Eh heh, just kidding. Does she know anyone in the night class?"  
>Kana gave him a look. "Something-or-other Ichijo."<br>"What's her name?"  
>"Shika Tachibana."<br>"All right, I'll tell Kaname and see if we can arrange a room and get-"  
>"Kaien, she's blind."<br>Cross raised an eyebrow.  
>"By the way," Kana blew more smoke into the air and threw a white envelope onto his desk, "That's for you."<br>He gave it a quizzical look and adjusted his glasses. "An invitation? To what?"  
>"My wedding."<br>"But who are you... Don't tell me you..."  
>Kana couldn't stop herself from breaking out in a grin. "Raiden. He came back." <p>

Shika squeezed Takuma's hand.  
>"Are you sure you don't want to wear glasses?"<br>"Yes. I cannot see their strange looks, so there is no point in wearing them."  
>"Yes, but I can see them." Takuma mumbled. He put on his best smile, pushed the doors open, and called, "Everyone, I would like you to meet our temporary student; Shika Tachibana!"<br>Shika nodded shyly. She had been confined for so many years, and even after that the only people she had experienced contact with were Takuma, Raiden, and a few others for only moments. She was still extremely wary of the night class, and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.  
>Hanabusa was the first to give her a questioning look. A blind vampire? When Takuma saw this he had the strangest urge to hit him. But Akatsuki got to him first and – appropriately – punched him in the gut. Good ol' Akatsuki.<br>Shika could sense the approaching pureblood and directly bowed. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Lord Kaname." She did her best to keep the shaking from her voice.  
>Takuma took this as the perfect opportunity to step in. "Kaname, would you mind if I showed Shika to her room?"<br>Kaname kept his eyes trained on the blind girl. "Go on ahead."  
>Takuma beamed, almost giddy with relief. They had accepted her, even with her condition. He took the young woman by her hand and felt her clutch his so hard he could feel it going numb. "I'll be right back." he whispered to Senri. Then he escorted Shika out the door.<br>"Where is my room?"  
>"Just down the hall. I suppose you don't want a roommate?"<br>"No thank you. Does... Does it have a window?"  
>"Yes. It has a large window with white curtains and a window seat underneath it."<br>Shika relaxed her grip on his hand. "Good. Do you not think it strange for me to be attending a high school when I am college age?"  
>"No. Besides, since you're home schooled you would have been studying a different curriculum anyway."<br>Takuma led her to her room, bade her goodnight, and left her to her own thoughts.  
>Shika felt her way along the wall and finally reached the window. She took a seat on the window bench, pulled back the curtains, and let the cool moonlight stream down over her face. She pulled a small golden locket out from under her night class jacket and twisted the chain between her fingers. Shika opened her mouth and sang out a few notes before letting the rhythmic flow of words pour from her lips; <p>

"_Sing sweet, little songbird,  
>Fly and spread your wings,<br>Run away into the sky,  
>From all tomorrow brings,<em>

_Fly away from every harm,  
>Fly away into my arms,<em>

_Sing sweet, little songbird,  
>Fly and spread your wings."<em>

END OF CHAPTER 6


	7. Chapter 7

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

Beware my fangs, for I am the crimZonvampire!

I did it! A chapter in two weeks! \^-^/

I have a gmail account with the user name crimZonvampire. If you want to, you can email me directly through that...

Just have to say this now, no I did not take the name Raiden from final fantasy or mortal kombat, or any of those games. *was doing research on the name and...*

When I was trying to think up a number for Raiden, I chose TG-404 for a reason. Raiden, or 雷電 means "Thunder and Lightning". Also, In Japanese mythology, Raiden-sama is an alternate name for Raijin, the god of thunder. TG-404 (in my mind, not the actual story,) stands for "Thunder God" and then 404 because my favorite number is 4 and I felt like it needed a 0 in the middle...  
>You all encourage me so much just by reading this. It means something to me; it means people actually like what I write. That's huge for someone who want's to become an author. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, I MEAN IT!<p>

Please review! I really want to hear what you have to say!  
>Sorry for making you read my boring commentary, (again,) here's the latest chapter from crimZonvampire!<p>

CHAPTER 7

_The beautiful, dark veils_

_That hide protruding fangs_

_Blood spilled in the shadows_

_Covered by that same loving smile_

_And what protects the beast within?_

_The bloodline of so many years_

_The blood of so many humans_

_Life-giving blood smelled from so far away_

_That causes the vampire to stir_

_Eyes turn red, blood boils, heart beats faster_

_And then,_

_The vampire awakens._

_ Five year old Takuma Ichijo zoomed down the hallway with his hands spread out in front of him like he was driving a car. "Vroom vrooom! Eeeee!" he screeched to a halt in front of a large, white door. Asato Ichijo, his grandfather, had told him to stay away from the white door. But exploring was much more enjoyable. Forgetting his grandfather's warning, (actually, he was choosing to ignore it,) he pushed on the door, hard._

_ Inside the room, Shika froze. She could sense someone outside the door, someone who was not human._

_ "Hellooo? Anyone in heeere?" Takuma waddled on his stubbly legs into the open spaced room._

_ "Get away from me!"_

_ Takuma blinked. "Hey, is somebody in here? Where's the light switch?" The little boy felt his way along the wall until he found it and flicked it on._

_ Shika flinched and fell back onto the bed._

_ "Hey, who are you?" he said curiously, toddling over to her._

_ "Do- do not come any closer! Stay back!" Suddenly, Shika's pale, blue eyes turned a bright lavender color and a spinning ball of water was thrown through the air towards Takuma's little, blonde head._

_ Takuma leapt back just in time to avoid the attack. "What was that for? Why are you scared? I'm not going to hurt you or anything."_

_ "You... You are not here to hurt me?"_

_ "No. Why would I hurt you?"_

_ Shika scooted back farther when he reached out to touch her._

_ Takuma gave her a quizzical look. "Why aren't you looking at me? Can't you see me?" he said, waving his stubbly little fingers in front of her frozen eyes._

_ Shika shook her head slowly. "No. I cannot see anything. I am blind."_

_ Takuma's jaw dropped to the floor. "Whaaat? Then you can't read? But reading is the best thing ever!"_

_ "I can read." She picked up her book and traced her finger across it. "See? This reads: 'It was delicious!'"_

_ "Whoa, that's so cool!" He hopped up onto the bed next to her and examined it._

_ Shika gulped and reached her hand out hesitantly until she felt his soft, golden hair._

_ "Hey, what are you doing?"_

_ "I... I want to know what you look like."_

_ He giggled. "But it tickles!"_

_ Shika moved her hand down his cheeks and came to a halt at his mouth. "What is that?"_

_ He laughed. "It's my mouth, stupid!"  
>Did he just call her stupid? "No, not that. What is it doing?"<em>

_ "It's smiling, duh!"_

_ "Smiling?"_

_ "Takuma!" A mans voice called._

_ "Aww, that's grandfather. I wasn't supposed to come here, I better leave. Oh, before I go; what's your name?"_

_ She hesitated again. "Tachibana."_

_ "Not your surname, your given one!"  
>"Sh... Shika, Shika Tachibana."<em>

_ "My name's Takuma Ichijo! Bye Shika! I'll come back tomorrow, I promise!"_

_ Shika coughed. "G- goodbye, Takuma."_

_ Takuma crept as silent as a mouse down the carpeted hallway, for some reason, on all fours. Although, being on his hands and knees had proved to be effective in sneaking away from his sleeping tutor._

_ A black haired woman in a nurses outfit emerged from the room and nearly tripped over the young boy. "Master Takuma!" she gasped. "You gave me quite a fright! What on earth are you doing here?" he said nervously, glancing back to the forbidden room._

_ He put a finger to his lips. "Shh, grandfather and I are playing hide-and-seek. If you see him, don't tell him I was here." he said smoothly, lying through his fangs._

_ She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, it's our secret then," she said, reading something on her medical clipboard and winking at him._

_ He mouthed her a silent thank you and waited until she was out of sight to crawl into the room. He sprang up like a rabbit. "Shika! I told you I'd come back!"_

_ For an answer, he heard a fit of coughs from the occupied bed in the back of the windowless room._

_ "Shika? Are you sick?"_

_ "Y- yes." she coughed. "I have a weak body, that's why I am kept in this room."_

_ "Hmm..." He mused over what to do, taking the liberty to sit down at the edge of her bed. "I know it's not really a _good _idea, but wouldn't it make you feel better if you drink my blood?"_

_ "What? I could never do something-" At that point, Shika was overtaken by coughs._

_ "Well... If it will make you feel better, then I don't mind!" He smiled broadly._

_ "R... Really? You would do that for me? Why?"_

_ "Because we're friends, silly!" He brushed his long hair off of his shoulder. "Come on, I really don't mind, if it will make you feel better."_

_ Shika felt her lower lip tremble. "Thank you," she whispered. She sat up slowly, pulled Takuma in close, and dug her fangs into his flesh._

_ "Hey, Shika? I brought you something. Here, It's a locket. It has both of our name's in it, and our pictures, so that way you'll never forget me."_

Shika twisted the worn, golden chain around her little finger and sang to the moon.

"_Fly away from every harm,_

_Fly away into my arms,_

"_Sing sweet little songbird,_

_Fly and spread your wings."_

"Good, you came!" Mizuki said happily.

Takuma smiled back at her, not exactly fond of her plan. "Are you sure about this? What if the Disciplinary Committee catches us?"

"Easy; we run fast and hope they didn't see our faces.

"But it's the middle of the day, Mizuki."  
>"So? Are you really going to go against Aunty Kana's orders?" she said slyly.<br>Takuma recalled the last time that had happened and shuddered. "Never."  
>"Good, then come on. Shika said she'll meet us there." She caught the look on his face and smiled. "If we get in trouble, I'll get Aunty Kana to talk to the Headmaster on our behalf."<br>He sighed. "All right."  
>Mizuki grabbed his hand, dragged him out to town, then forced him into a store. "Aunty Kana told me she wants you in a black tuxedo for her wedding. I'm supposing you don't mind not wearing white?" she said, glancing at his cream colored school uniform.<br>"Not a bit," he chuckled.  
>She threw a suit over his head. "Go try that on and come show me."<br>He nodded, slipped into the dressing room, stripped down to his boxers, and put on the suit. Takuma stepped out of the dressing room. "Good?"

"Dashing, 'handsome'," she joked.  
>He grinned. "I think I can live with that."<br>A bell on the shop door tolled.  
>Mizuki whirled around. "Shika!" she squealed, running up to her friend and tossing her arms around her neck like and overly excited puppy whose owner had just come home.<br>"M- Mizuki!" Shika gasped under her choking hug.  
>"I'm surprised you're up this early, Shika."<br>Shika tired to catch her breath. "G- good morning, Takuma."

"Takuma's in a suit," Mizuki teased, sticking her tongue out. "Take my word for it, he looks great. Takuma, meet us over at the dresses, will you?"  
>He smiled brightly. "All right."<p>

After he had changed, Takuma arrived just in time to see Shika emerging in a soft, baby-blue dress. The dress went up to her knees and waved out a bit at the bottom like the ocean, and she was wearing pale knee socks, clean, white shoes and white gloves that went up to her elbows.

"I like it. Matches your eyes. Don't you think?" Mizuki asked, inclining her head towards Takuma.

He smiled. "Absolutely stunning."

Shika felt a flush creep up her neck and cheeks.

Mizuki swung her legs to get herself up off the couch she had been sitting on and picked up various piles of blue dresses. "Takuma, since Shika..." she trailed off, drawing circles around her eyes. "You're going to have to tell me which one's the best, are you OK with that?"

"Of course. I'm sure you'll look wonderful." He smiled again, but this time it was softer, kinder.

Mizuki slammed the dressing room door before he could see how red she got.

The first dress she tried on was a simple, blue dress similar to Shika's. Takuma shook his head. The second one was a sky blue dress with a puffed out skirt that went to her knees. Again, he shook his head.

Mizuki stepped out shyly with the last dress on, hoping this one would be better. "Any luck?"

A grin spread across Takuma's lips. "Wow, you look beautiful."

Mizuki smiled. The last dress was a deep, midnight blue with onyx flames crawling up the bottom. She had a charcoal ribbon knotted at the waist and a black headband in her hair. The dress covered her toes and was cut off at the shoulders with two thick straps. "Glad you like it." she said, twirling around to her enjoyment and Takuma's laughter. "Not exactly what I'd think of a dress to wear for a wedding. But Kana approved these beforehand, so I guess it's fine."

"Take off your glasses."

Mizuki slid them off and clasp her hands behind her back.

Takuma smiled softly again. "Perfect."

"Are we done then?"

"I suppose we are."  
>"Let me change back into my uniform and I'll treat the both of you to lunch."<p>

Shika nodded . "That sounds great."  
>Mizuki switched clothes, paid for their outfits, (actually, Takuma paid for them with the promise she would pay him back tomorrow,) and led them to her favorite restaurant.<p>

"It was so worth skipping school to do this." Mizuki crammed another piece of chicken into her mouth.

Shika took a delicate bite as well and her blank eyes lit up. "This is good."

Mizuki laughed in response. "Told you! Anyway, we should probably get going. I told my roommate I was sick and that I wasn't coming to class, but it will look weird if you two are absent."

"Agreed. Shall we get going then?" Takuma said, pushing his plate toward the center of the table.

Shika nodded. "Sure. Takuma, you said you wanted me to help you with your English homework?"

"You speak English, Shika?"  
>"Yes. My mother was born in London, England. She taught me how to speak it fluently."<p>

"That's so cool!"  
>The corners of her mouth slid upward. "Thank you."<p>

"Wow," Mizuki said, awed.

"What is it?"

"It's so pretty. That's the first time I've ever seen your your smile."

Raiden kissed his soon-to-be wife over and over again until he felt her hand against his bare chest.  
>Kana adjusted her tee-shirt out of habit. "Your scars, do they hurt?"<br>He looked down at his badly scared chest. "All the time, although, more mentally then physically." He flicked her forehead. "Speaking of mental, what about that mind of yours?"  
>"Sane for the time being. I had Kaien under my knife the other day and I coulda sworn I was gonna have a relapse."<br>Raiden laid down in bed beside her and rested his head on her shoulder. He raised his hand and manipulated his fingers so white-hot electricity crackled between them. "You know, were the strangest couple I've ever seen."  
>Kana laughed. "Exactly, we're perfect for each other."<br>Raiden closed his eyes. "Yeah, perfect," he mumbled sleepily.  
>"You tired?"<br>"Yeah."  
>She kissed his forehead. "Then go to sleep."<p>

Raiden tossed and turned in his sleep.  
><em>"Just do it, they'll kill you if you don't."<em>  
>Restlessly, he switched positions again.<br>_"Stop! I can't do it! He's my friend!"_  
>The scars that covered his body burned and his fingers crackled with electricity.<br>_"No, no don't! I- I don't like it! It hurts and I can't control my powers!"_

And before he could wake, Raiden was sucked into the dream.  
><em>The needle, jabbed into his skin over and over, pulses of electricity shot into his body, horrid experiments tried on him until flecks of electricity flew from finger to finger. <em>

_ The boy with blonde streaks in his brown hair, who's roots had lost their color long ago, was dragged out and chained to the chair in the center of the room._

_ Fifteen year old Raiden stood as stiff as a pole in front of his roommate, the only friend he ever had._

_ The man in the white lab coat behind him leaned down close and whispered in his ear, "Shock his eyes out."_

_ Raiden grabbed the man by his collar and shouted, "No! Never! I could never hurt him!"_

_ "You will do it."  
>"I can't do it! Don't make me; he's my friend!"<em>

_ A surge of electricity was shot through his body from the instrument in the man's hand. Raiden screamed and his body went limp, then was tossed by the man to the other boy's feet "Shock his eyes out, now," he spat venomously, giving him a poisonous sneer._

_ Raiden's vision swam, his head spun, his hands buzzed, and he desperately tried to remain conscious while pushing himself back up. "Are you insane? I-"_

_ "Just stop, Raiden."_

_ He whipped around to face the boy in the chair. _

_ His ragged hair hung low over his face, concealing his eyes. "Just do it, they'll kill you if you don't."_

_ "But-"_

_ "My eyesight isn't worth your death."_

_ "Y- you're crazy! I can't- I wont-"_

_ "Raiden." The boy looked up with his deadened eyes, long void of all emotion due to the torturous experimentation. "Please, I would rather lose my eyes then watch you die through them. Please just..." he whispered, closing his deep brown eyes. _

_ Tears cut tracks down Raiden's face as he placed his hands over his friends closed eyes, his own reflecting the horror of the thing he was about to do. He grit his teeth and sent out a surge of white hot electricity._

_ An ear piercing scream raked the air and the boy slumped down in the chair, unconscious._

_ The man in the white lab coat clicked his pen and marked something down on his clipboard. "Specimen TG-404, name 'Raiden Natsujina' is ready for transfer to the next station. Experiments have been completed and specimen is stable."_

_ Raiden stood, horrified at himself. His only friend would never see again._

The terrifying memory morphed into a nightmare.

_ Suddenly, it was the adult Raiden, the nightmare clouded in a veil of fog before his eyes._

_ The boy pulled his head up and focused his dead eyes on Raiden. "It was you," he said hoarsely._

"No," he whispered in his sleep.

_"You did this to me." The boy's voice was distorted, part male, part female, both terrifyingly familiar. "You did this to us." The boy's eyes, Shika's, identical to one another._

_ His voice transformed into hers and her profile began to take shape. "Why? Why did you do this?"_

_ "No, that's a lie!"_

_ Shika's cold, heartless eyes willed him to keep his gaze. "Is it?"_

_ Then it was like he was standing on glass in the midst of clear water, naked eyes floating around his feet in all shades of blue, brown, and green. "Your fault, your fault," they chanted mercilessly._

_ The person in the chair went rapidly from the boy, who's laughing eyes would never see again, to his sister, glaring hatefully, to Shika, abandoning the one who had saved her, to Kana, covered in blood and laughing manically, to Mizuki, dead, a spirit with crystalline eyes to haunt him forevermore._

He twitched in his sleep. "No... Stop..."

_All of the people he had come close to, turned against him._

"Please... Help me."

_Their hands, stretching toward him to gouge his eyes out._

"GYYYAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Raiden shot up and clamped a hand over his eyes, then his mouth. He leaned over the side of the bed and vomited onto the carpet.

Kana stirred blinked sleepily. "You OK, baby?"

Raiden coughed and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. "I'm just dandy, what about you, Kana?"

Kana was rather slow to pick up, but literally leapt out of bed at the sight of how pale her fiancee was. "Oh my god, Raiden! Why the hell didnchya say somethin'?"  
>"So sorry," he muttered sarcastically.<p>

Kana had gotten everything cleaned, helped Raiden onto the couch, and was tying her hair back to inspect him in less then ten minutes.

She pressed the cool stethoscope against his hot skin. "How do you feel?"

Raiden refused to take his arm off of his own eyes. "Like shit."

"Well, as far as I can tell there's nothing physically wrong with you."

"I told you, my scars burn mentally rather than physically."

Kana looked at him sadly. "Let me get something to cool you down with."

Kana stood and took one step before Raiden lunged out and clutched her wrist like a lifeline. "No!... Don't..." Kana could feel him shaking horribly. "Don't leave me alone. To... To tell you the truth, I'm really frightened," he said, gritting his teeth together. His eyes, which evaded hers... They were filled with torment and regret.

Kana eased herself down beside him and reassuringly squeezed his hand. "You OK to get married tomorrow?"

He laughed weakly. "Of course I am. Besides, I didn't expect to get much sleep tonight anyway."

Kana smiled. "Me neither. I was panicking that Kaien Cross is gonna know where I live."

Raiden really laughed this time. Just talking was really calming him down. "I'm still surprised we really are getting married in our backyard.

"I dunno, feels kinda sentimental to me."

"And I'm going to see my sister and her family again."

"Yep. Tomorrow's gonna be the best day of my life," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Mine too, Kana."

"Do I look all right?" Mizuki said, twirling around in her dark, blue dress.

Takuma smiled. "You've asked me that three times already and the answer is still yes."

"Well, I just want to make sure! I mean, Shika looks gorgeous and Aunty Kana's dress is amazing!"

Kaien Cross approached them, looking very professional in his nice clothes with his hair tied back. "Good morning, Vice President, Miss Natsujina."

Mizuki gave him a cheeky grin. "Wow Headmaster, I've never seen you in a suit before; you look great!"

In return, he flashed her a warm smile. "So do you. Can you believe it? Kanako Aoi getting married. I never thought I'd see the day when the infamous Joker-" Cross dropped off when a flying, high-heeled, white shoe hit him in the back of the head.

"You bastard! Whaddya mean you thought you'd never see the day, _old man? _And stop with the whole Aoi and Joker thing! I've been going by Natsujina for years, and JOKER? I dropped that title when I quit hunting! Who do you think you are, insulting me on my wedding day? Try that one more time and I'll hitcha with more then just a shoe! I can still kick you off of my property and I'll do it with my heels if I have to!"  
>Mizuki raced to pick up the shoe and run back to Kana, who's ranting could be heard from where she was getting ready inside the house. "Aunty Kaaannnaaa! You're going to get your shoe dirty!" she yelled, utterly abandoning the sobbing heap that was Kaien Cross.<p>

"Atta girl," Raiden laughed, materializing in a striking black suit and tie. "You all right, Kaien? Even when I first met Kana, she was always as bold as-"

"Mein Bruder! Ich habe dich vermisst!" A woman with black hair and dyed blonde bangs pulled back in a ribbon almost literally jumped on top of Raiden from behind.

"Japanese, sister!" he laughed.

"Right, sorry! Just got off the plane and I still feel like I'm in Germany! That translated into, 'My brother! I missed you!"

"I missed you to, Hitomi. Takuma, could you do me a favor and find Shika?"

He smiled politely. "Of course, I'll be right back," he said, taking the hint and dragging Cross with him.

"Is your husband here?"

"Yeah, Christoph is getting Kai out of the car."

"Who's getting Kai out of the car?" said a blonde man, coming up behind her with a little boy in his arms.

Raiden shook the man's hand, smiled happily, and took his nephew in his own arms. "Good to see you again, Christoph." He boosted the little blonde boy up higher. "And have you had fun at school, Kai?"

Kai grinned happily. "Ja, viele!"

Raiden sighed. "Can't speak Japanese but understands it, huh?"

"Yep. He said 'yes, lots!'"

Takuma returned with Shika and a smile.

Hitomi peered around her brother. "Is this Shika?"

Raiden took Shika's hand and put his nephew in her arms. "Shika, this is my sister, Hitomi, her husband, Christoph, and this is their son, Kai. You three, this is the Shika Tachibana I've told you about, in the flesh."

"Hello," she said softly, shying away a little.

Kai wriggled, twisted a strand of Shika's hair and grinned again. "Hallo, Shika! Ich bin Kai! Wirst du mein Freund sein?"

"What did he say?" she said running a hand through his hair.

"Hello, Shika! I'm Kai! Will you be my friend?"

She felt down his round cheeks and gingerly touched his smile with two fingers. "Yes, I will be your friend. Your smile reminds me of someone I know, Kai."

"Hey, Raiden," Hitomi nudged him with her elbow, "it's time for you to get married, you better go."

"Right," he said, reclaiming Kai and handing him back to Christoph.

"Do you, Raiden Natsujina, take Kanako Aoi to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Kana whispered under her breath, "Ready to be stuck with me for the rest of your life?"

Raiden couldn't keep a grin from breaking out on his face. "I do."

"Do you, Kanako Aoi, take Raiden Natsujina to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Hell yeah. I- I mean, I do," she said, blushing like crazy.

Cross chucked in rather small audience. "Haven't changed at bit."

"You may now kiss the bride."  
>Kana threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, like they were the only two in the world. The cheers from the few people in the audience were almost more overwhelming than at a crowded wedding, everyone was joyful and happy to see them married. The whole scene was perfect, serene almost.<p>

That's when the screaming started.

Kana and Raiden broke apart and looked up. Vampires, unstable, fangs protruding, bloodthirsty, insane, eyes gleaming ruby red, and seeking the group of humans enjoying the wedding going on below.

Raiden felt a buzz of electricity sweep through his fingers. "Everyone, get inside!" he shouted.

Cross hurried Raiden's sister and her family in the house while Takuma and Shika pushed past him to assist Kana and Raiden. Mizuki tried to get past him too, but he caught her with his outstretched arm.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"No."

"Headmaster!" Mizuki grit her teeth and pulled out a disc that was as sharp around the edges as the blade of a sword. She held it tightly in her right hand, so tight the sharp edges caused blood to trickle down her fingertips. "Let me go, I know what to do!"

Cross kept his solemn stare.

"Kana taught me how! Let me go!"  
>"Kaien!"<p>

Cross let Mizuki run beside her adoptive family and friends and focused on Kana instead.

"My knives, get me my knives!"

His eyes widened and he whispered, "Joker... Kanako..."

"NOW!" she bellowed.

He threw them into her outstretched hands and he ran back to the house.

"Get Raiden's family out of here! And Kaien!"

He whipped around.

"Keep them safe."

Cross nodded and retreaded to the house.

Kana clenched her knives in between her fingers, Mizuki gripped her disc tightly, Raiden felt electricity flow throughout his body to his crackling fingertips, Shika surrounded herself in a stream of water, eyes lavender, Takuma let his vampire instincts take over, eyes red, fangs bared, katana in hand, all of them poised to fight.

The first one leaped from the buildings above and shot straight at Raiden, and in response he raised his hand and shocked it with enough energy to blow out a power plant until it was reduced to nothing more then burnt ashes.

Mizuki hit the second one with her sharp disc before it had even reached her. It beheaded the creature and returned to her hand like a boomerang, drenched in blood. It's hideous head rolled to a halt at her feet before it disintegrated, and she looked down on it distastefully, eyes as cold as ice.

Shika had trapped the third one in a watery tornado, clutching its neck and gasping for air. "Kill it," she instructed Raiden. He stretched out his hand and sent a flash of electricity into the water to electrocute it until nothing remained, not even ashes.

Takuma braced himself for the next, it leaped from the roof tops and dived at him, eyes wild. He sliced into the things innards and felt warm blood splatter his face. His tongue moved on it's own accord, and when it rolled back inside his mouth it grazed his fangs with the scarlet blood of the dead level E.

Kana ripped her breathtaking dress so she could move around in it and turned to Shika. "Get me up there!" she ordered. Shika sent a wave under Kana and moved her up onto the roof where the vampires lay in wait. No more flew down, Kana had gotten to them all first, she tore into them with her knives until they left her divine, white dress stained with blood and left the rooftops covered in ashes.

Raiden squinted and tried to aim his energy accordingly at the vampires when Cross ran past him, attempting to reach the roof. "She's become the Joker again!" he shouted out to the man boiling with electricity. Raiden blanched and shot his eyesight toward his wife.

Kana was grinning manically, eyes wild, slashing out and stabbing every living thing that crossed her path. "No!" he shouted, letting the electricity disappear from his fingers. "Shika, get us up there!"  
>She nodded and shot him and Cross up onto the top on another huge wave, just in time to witness Kana destroy a vampire with a flick of her wrist. They could hear her laughing now, insanity intertwined in every sound. Her eyes crazy, only seeking to kill, screaming, "Only the strong survive!" She pinned the last one to the ground and stabbed it over and over, adding to the blood on her hands and face.<p>

Raiden and Cross ran up and each grabbed Kana by the arm, desperately trying to pull her knives away from the creature while she laughed in maniacal delight.

"Kanako, let go!"

"Kana, Kana!"  
>"Kanako, listen, can you hear me?" He avoided one of her lashes toward him.<p>

"Kana, don't make me do this!" Raiden could feel electricity welling up inside of him.  
>"Drop it, stop! Stop!"<p>

"KANA!"

END OF CHAPTER 7


	8. Chapter 8

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

*Rises from coffin* Hiya!  
>I really love writing stories like this one. I'm the extremely shy girl in the back of the class who seems nice, gets good grades, and is always writing in a little, black notebook. People assume it's a journal or, if I let them look at it, a sweet little story and not a dark novel (believe it or not, the dark stuff in my usual stories majorly excels what I put in this). I've always been really timid and unsocial, so I put a lot in my writing and acting. Don't get the wrong idea though, my life isn't dark at all... I just think it's fun to freak my mom and friends out with dislodged heads and gruesome deaths! ^-^<p>

I'm thinking that I'm gonna have to copy the original story and do the whole skip a year thing, otherwise this will end up being a four thousand page story. I'm a little off with the time line anyway so I doubt it will have to much of an impact... At least I know how to continue it from that point.

I'm so horrible... I ruined a peaceful wedding with a vampire attack... Oh well, it made a good story!

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING MY STORY *pauses for breath* I CAN'T BELIVE PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE IT AND WANT TO READ IT THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THANK YOOOOOU! *lunges out to hug all of you like Kaien Cross*

CHAPTER 8

_Gone,_

_All hope is gone,_

_Lost,_

_Never to return,_

_Vanished,_

_Disappeared from my sight,_

_Revenge,_

_What I sought,_

_Hurting,_

_What I felt,_

_Darkness,_

_What surrounds me,_

_Death,_

_What shrouds me,_

_Madness,_

_What controls me,_

_Gone, lost, vanished, revenge, hurting, darkness, death, madness,_

_Crazy,_

_Insane,_

_My mind, my heart, my soul,_

_Lost in the darkness that I can't escape,_

_Everything is gone._

_"Don't hurt 'im! Stop it, don't hurt 'im no more!"  
>The boy barely even glanced at her before returning to his task of kicking the other boy cowering on the ground.<br>"Why're ya hurting 'im?"  
>The boy turned and leered at her. "'Cause he's a vampire, dat's why! Get outta here, ya stupid kid!"<br>"No! I'm not gonna, not 'til ya stop!"  
>The boy curled up into a ball saw his chance when the others were distracted by the girl. He jumped up from the ground, gave the boy a blow to the jaw, punched his follower on the skull from behind, grabbed the girl's wrist and dashed away out of the alley. Once he got out, he took her by her shoulders and swiveled her around to face him. "Ya gotta get outta here, 'kay? Go back 'ome!"<br>She sniffed and restrained a sob. "Whatta 'bout you? Ain't ya hurt?"  
>"Doesn't matter, ya just gotta get away from here a'ight? Now!"<br>She nodded and took off in the direction of her empty looking house and only returned to the alley the next day.  
>To her surprise, the boy was there with a bandage on his cheek and a grin on his face. "'Ey, yer the girl from yesterday." He tipped up his hat, walked with a natural swagger in his step, and tied a bow back in her hair. "Dat's a thank ya gift fer helpin' me out. The name's Akihiko, but ya can call me Aki, 'cause we're friends now, a'ight?"<br>She played with the ribbon in her hair and absolutely beamed. "I'm Kanako, but ya can call me Kana. 'Ey, are ya really a vampire like 'e said?"  
>The smile dropped from his face. "Yeah. I was bitten almost a year ago. Do ya care? Can we still be friends?"<br>The beam was still present across her face. "Yep, 'course we can!"  
>That was Kanako Aoi's first love. <em>

_"G' mornin', Aki. 'Ey, what're ya doin'?"_

_ Aki closed one eye and held his thumb up in front of his face. "Drawin' a picture of ya."_

_ "Really? Lemme see!"_

_ He pulled the book back toward his chest. "Nuh-uh! Not 'til it's done!" He glanced up at the sky, put his hand out, and felt a wet raindrop smack into his palm. "We better go. It's rainin'. Your parent's aren't 'ome, are they?"_

_ Kana shook her short, brown hair furiously from side to side._

_ Aki's dark blue eyes followed it like they were being hypnotized. "Why dontcha come to my place then? C'mon, I'll make hot chocolate," he said cheerfully, extending his hand._

_ Kana took it and swung it back and forth. "'Kay!"_

_ "You can sit down by the fire place, I mean, if you wanna."_

_ "I do," she said, plopping down beside it. "Aki, 'ow old are ya?"_

_ Aki wrung his hat out in the sink, in a few seconds, magically produced the creamy, chocolate liquid, and sat down beside her. "Twelve years and countin'. Whatta 'bout you?"_

_ She pushed her lips out, turned her head away from him and pouted, "I'm only ten."_

_ Aki laughed then turned his eyes away from the flickering flames to face her. His eyes focused onto her neck._

_ "Whyda you get to be twelve when we're the same height-"_

_ The clatter of a glass echoed around the room and hot chocolate sizzled onto the fire._

_ Aki had Kana pinned down against the wood floors, eyes locked on her neck, heart thumping so loudly that she could almost hear in beating out of his chest. "Aki? What're ya doin'?"_

_ He lowered his head of shaggy, brown hair down toward her shoulder and ran his tongue up her neck._

_ Kana tried to kick him off, but he was, in fact, quite a bit stronger than her and he easily remained in place. He felt his fangs grow, but he couldn't restrain himself. Her blood smelled so good. So intoxicating. So tempting._

_ Aki sank his fangs into Kana's throat._

_ "OUCH! A-Aki stop! It hurts! Stop it!" Her blood tainted the wood a deep crimson and Kana could hear him slurping it voraciously. His pretty, white smile that she had admired so much, stained scarlet. "Aki, lemme go!" Kana was finally able to get her feet underneath him and slam him into the back wall._

_ A low growl rumbled deep in the back of the vampire's throat and he looked up with murderous eyes, licking the blood from his chin. When he saw the terror in Kana's eyes as she covered her bleeding neck with her palm, something buried deep inside his mind snapped. He wiped his mouth with his white knuckle, looked down at his fingers, painted with the sweet, red liquid, grit his teeth, and ran away out the door.  
>Kana, tears raining down her cheeks, gathered her balance and followed him out. "Aki! Aki, wait up!" <em>

_ Kana found him, curled up and shaking in the same alleyway where they had first met. "I didn' mean to, I just-" he cut off and is eyes turned red again at the sight of Kana's blood. His tongue flickered over his lips and suddenly he pounced on her again._

_ Kana squeezed her eyes shut tight, instinctively reached into her pocket for the knife her parents had given her, and put it out in front of her chest before he knocked her down. "No!" She felt his grip on her slack, heard him cough, and felt something splatter onto her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes._

_ Her knife had found its home in Aki's heart._

_ He coughed blood again and he could feel his life slipping away. "Please," he whimpered, "please, just kill me."_

_ "Aki! Aki, no! You can't-"_

_ She felt his fingers wrap around her hand and jam the knife farther into his chest until his brown shirt turned dark red. "Kana," he was having difficulty swallowing, "only the strong survive, I'm just not strong enough. I'm sorry. 'Ey, I'll always love ya, ya were like a lit'l sister to me. Dat's my picture, it's done now. I love ya, I promise." Then he took his last, rattling breath, placed a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, and laid down on top of Kana.  
>Dead. <em>

_ "I wanna become a hunter."_

_ The association president, who had some feminine traits but was not a cross-dresser yet, scoffed, "You 'wanna'? How old are you, kid? Have you even graduated high school?"  
>"Fourteen, never set foot in one, but I'm tellin' ya; I can do this."<br>He jeered at her again. "Sorry, I need a little more information than that. You're just going to have to come back in a few years." He shooed her away with a wave of his hand.  
>Kana, in retaliation, pounded both of hers down onto the desk. "I can hunt vampires!"<br>"I believe you, you're just not what we're looking for."  
>Kana scowled and turned away with a swish of her coat. <em>

_ Concealed in the shadows, a man with long hair had been calming watching the affair and decided his knife could use a little action, his sword saw enough. Besides, he could see the familiar glint of a blade between her cloak and knew it was her main weapon. Why not give her a chance to prove herself? He threw the knife directly at her head._

_ Kana didn't even look his way. Already skilled with a knife, she caught it between her middle and forefingers, twisted her wrist, and threw it behind her over the opposite shoulder._

_ It lodged itself centimeters away from the president's dull, green eyes._

_ Kana stared coldly back into them. "I suggest you think twice 'bout me."_

_ He swallowed his pride and cleared his throat. "Wait, I may... Reconsider."_

_ Later, outside the building, the man who had thrown the knife approached Kana._

_ "I didn't need your help!" she snarled._

_ "Of course you didn't , but in return for my help; I want you to come under my training."_

_ "What, so you're my teacher now or somethin'?"_

_ "Exactly, that's the one condition to your becoming a hunter."_

_ "I'm really gonna be a hunter? Yeah!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air._

_ The man stuck out his hand. "Kaien Cross."_

_ Kana's eyes widened, then she smirked and shook it. "Nice to meetchya, Mr. 'Vampire without Fangs'. Kanako Aoi."_

_ "First assignment." Cross said, tossing an envelope to her._

_ "Two of 'em?"_

_ "I was assigned to handle the first, you are supposed to take care of the second."_

_ "Finally," Kana breathed, tucking her hands behind her head. "Where're they at?"_

_ He handed her a piece of paper with the address and Kana scowled. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's your hometown, isn't it?"_

_ "Yeah, what's your point?"_

_ He flicked a glance her way, then switched his gaze back into the distance. "Nothing. Nothing at all."_

_ "Hold 'im down for me, will ya?" Kana threw one leg over the vampire and shot it a look as dirty as the one it was giving her. It snapped its bone-crushing jaws, ferocious fangs grinding together, red eyes reflecting the glint of the knife Kana raised. She brought it down and stabbed the vampire's skull. "Only the strong survive," she whispered, "so I'm gonna become the strongest."_

_ For just a moment, so quickly even Cross didn't catch it, a smile flickered across her bloodstained face._

"Kanako, let go!"

"Kana, Kana!"  
>"Kanako, listen, can you hear me?" He avoided one of her lashes toward him.<p>

"Kana, don't make me do this!" Raiden could feel electricity welling up inside of him.  
>"Drop it, stop! Stop!"<p>

"KANA!" Raiden grit his teeth and sent a surge of electricity into his wife.

She screeched in agony and fell into his arms, unconscious. Her blood-covered knife clinked to the ground and a light wind dusted it with the ashes of the vampires who had perished during Kana's reign.

Raiden tapped the door lightly. "Kana? Can I come in?" when he didn't hear an answer, he pushed the door opened with a creaky swing.  
>Kana had a dying cigarette in her mouth, eyes glazed over and staring blankly into the distance. She was still in her ragged, bloody, wedding dress. "It was a good thing you shocked me," she said in a voice that harbored no emotion.<br>Raiden eased himself onto the bed beside her and took her hand. "Scared the hell out of me when I did. I knew it was the only option but I didn't know if I could just knock you out or if I would end up killing you. You can ask Kaien, I must have checked for your pulse at least twenty times and I was as white as a sheet."  
>"Raiden, y'know why I was known as the Joker in my hunting days? Because I would laugh. I would grin from ear to ear, laugh demonically, scream 'only the strong survive', and stab them over and over long after they were dead. I was a monster and I loved it. I loved killing them."<br>Raiden pulled her head down onto his shoulder. "Shh. You're not a hunter anymore. You're a doctor, do you remember why you became a doctor?"  
>Kana stared off into space. "... No."<br>"Well, you told me it was so you could help people." Raiden picked up a sketch of a young girl with a ribbon in her hair. "People like him. What was his name again? Akihiko?"  
>"Yeah, Aki."<br>"Well, he was definitely a good artist. I couldn't draw like that in a million years ."  
>"I believe you, I've seen your artwork... Why didn't you just kill me then?" she said softly.<br>"Because I'm selfish. I didn't want to live the rest of my life without you, so I'm making you endure it with me. Besides, why ruin a perfectly good wedding?"  
>Kana snickered, "Some wedding, huh?"<br>"Who cares? We're married now, that's all I wanted."

Takuma spun Shika around the floor slowly. "I find it surprising you've never danced before, although I know it would be a little complicated if you were to attend a soiree."

Shika twirled in a circle and nearly lost her balance. "Dancing throws off one's equilibrium. The need never arose before now."

"Well, it's a good thing you're a quick learner."

Shika was silent for a moment, racking her brain for the next set of movements. "Will Mizuki be attending?"

"Yes. I expect you'll get many offers to dance; the day class's fascination with the night class still astounds me."

"Who will you be dancing with?"

Takuma paused, repeating the the familiar foot pattern before speaking again. "Anyone who asks me, I suppose. It would be rude to decline. What about you?"

"The same goes for me," Shika replied.

Later, at the dance:

"No, it's my turn!"  
>"Nuh-uh! I want to dance!"<p>

"He's mine! Besides you've already danced with him three times!"

Takuma smiled awkwardly and tried to calm the situation. "Ladies please, you'll all get your chance-"

"Takuma." Shika extended her hand and somehow melted right through the eager girls like a shadow.

Takuma accepted it and pulled her out to dance, He flicked a glance towards Mizuki, who was chatting with her roommate, then back to Shika as they swayed across the floor. "You and Mizuki are dressed as polar opposites, aren't you?"

Mizuki was in a dress as black as night while Shika contrasted her in a dress as white as snow. Despite her usually Gothic-like appearance, it suited her marvelously. "That is what she told me as well."

The song ended and within seconds Shika has vanished into the crowd and Takuma was swamped, once again, by fangirls. Behind him, someone cleared their throat. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but I haven't had the pleasure." Mizuki gave him her hand. She was wearing a black, lace glove and had kept her glasses on this time around.

Takuma thought her a welcome relief. "Pleasure is all mine," he said with a smile.

After a few steps, Mizuki shifted her position so her hand wasn't pressed against Takuma's, but so both of them were around his neck and and his were wrapped around her waist. Takuma felt her edge toward the back of the room and gave a glance to the other girls. Almost instantly he averted his eyes from their penetrating, death glares. Slowly, they dematerialized into the crowd of dancers.

Mizuki rested her head down on his slender shoulder. "This is nice," she said softly.

"Peaceful," Takuma said, nodding in agreement.

Mizuki exhaled and, when the song ended, pulled him away and leisurely strolled out onto the terrace. "It will be a full moon soon," she said thoughtfully, gazing up at the stars. "Does the full moon really affect vampires?"

Takuma gripped the railing and looked up into the sky as well. "Not as intensely as one would imagine."

"I like the stars. They were born from stars, you know. Vampires, I mean. The moon sent the the stars – its servants – to the Earth so they could investigate it. But it ran into a problem; the Earth liked the creatures from the sky, so it set up a barrier so his sky-beings could never leave. Vampires are just fallen stars that got trapped on Earth. Kind of romantic in my opinion."

"Yes. It's a nice way of thinking about it."

Takuma decided now would be a good time. The inky-black, crushing darkness faded away into the the shadows, shooed by the glittering twinkle of the stars. The moon reflected back the last light of the day, moonlight poured over Mizuki's pale face and gave it a glowing appearance. Her black dress billowed in the slight breeze, a small smile played across her lips, and her dark eyes morphed into the night sky.

Mizuki felt Takuma's hand lightly touch her face. He pulled her in, kissed her cheek, and whispered;

"I love you."

END OF CHAPTER 8


	9. Chapter 9

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

Helllllllloooooooo!

First, the poem. My English teacher had us working with Shakespearen sonnets when I wrote this chapter and I didn't have an idea for a poem so I figured I would write this. I actually worked up the nerve to ask if I could read it aloud to the class (half of them were on a band field trip though) and they all thought it was great! ^o^ Super excited!

You all got that you're supposed to put two beats on cursed right? Curs-ED by cr...

Sorry, I know this chapter is short, but after the tenth chapter I'm going to skip a year, so I wanted to save the best parts for last. Next chapter's gonna be goooood! ^-^

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! I'm working on the next chapter right now! 3 from crimZonvampire!

CHAPTER 9

_Shadowed in the crushing night ,_

_The vampire seeks his latest prey,_

_With those sweet smiling fangs he'll bite,_

_In my heart, he'll always stay,_

_Cursed by cruel hands of fate,_

_The vampire will again rise,_

_The serving stars, consumed with hate,_

_White fangs and blood-red eyes,_

_Causing clashes amongst the things,_

_Will cause to much ado,_

_But letting them roam, simply brings,_

_Only devastation for you,_

_The vampire's needs make things so hectic,_

_The vampire's confession, so unexpected._

Nothing. Mizuki gave him no reaction at all, and Takuma could feel his heart breaking because of it. Cracking in the center, then shattering altogether. She took his hand and pulled him to the side, out of the light of the open doors and into the shadows. Her eyes were hidden underneath her hair, but he could see her lips form themselves into a small, sad smile. "It's too bad," she said. "I was kind of hoping you would be _in _love with me."

Takuma felt a wave of relief wash over him and had to stop himself from laughing out loud. "You could have killed me, I was so nervous when I said that and you did nothing!" he said, but he was grinning.

Mizuki shot him a grin right back. "Me? _You _nearly gave me a heart attack, being all sweet and calm like that. I'm surprised they don't call _you _Idol!"

Takuma jokingly put his hands to his hips. "Well, how are you going to make it up to me?"

Mizuki pressed her lips to his and even when he broke away she kissed him again

_Ah, _he thought, _this is why she led me here, so no one could see._

Mizuki refused to let him go. She ran a hand through his hair and combed it with her fingers. Takuma grabbed her hands, pinned her up against the wall and kissed her rapidly until he broke away with a huge grin.

Mizuki took his hand again and pulled him away until they were in the courtyard. "Cross asked me if I could sub in for one of the guardians tomorrow night," she said, making conversation just to hide her excitement.

He gave her a sheepish smile. "So you found out the Disciplinary Committee's true colors huh?"

"Yeah. He asked me to bring my disc and gave me this," she said, showing him an arm band with a red symbol on it.

He slid it onto her shoulder and stepped back to get a better look at it. "Who are you filling in for?"

"Kiryu. The headmaster said he hasn't been feeling well lately and figured I was the safest person for the job. I wonder why he doesn't ask me to be a guardian permanently?"

Takuma chuckled mildly to himself. "Yuuki and Zero are (what the headmaster considers) his adopted children. Unannounced to them, I think he refuses to let anyone else join because he thinks of it as his 'family time'. And anyhow, what do you think Kana would do if it was his fault you fell asleep in class?"

Mizuki laughed at the thought. "Headmaster would never walk again." She glanced back toward the hall of dancers and chewed her lower lip. "You should probably get back, those girls will start a riot if you go missing."

He sneaked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "Are you all right if I dance with other girls?"

"Do I seem like the jealous type to you? Besides, I'm the luckiest one out of all those girls because I'm the only one who gets to kiss you." She tilted her head back and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Through silent agreement, they both crept in the opposite direction. Takuma nearly skipped back to the dance from sheer glee, and the enormous grin on his face was absolutely giddy. Mizuki squeezed her fists to her racing heart and couldn't stop smiling the rest of the night, much to the amusement of her roommate.

"Cross? Is that you?" Mizuki called out shyly.

Yuuki leapt out of the second story window yelling something about how Zero could talk to her every now and then. She landed in from of Mizuki on on knee, stood up, smiled, and said cheerfully, "I'm Yuuki Cross, and you must be Natsujina."

_Perky, _Mizuki thought to herself while flashing her a smile in return. "In the flesh." She slipped a black, specialized glove over only her right hand, pulled it tight, reached into her messenger bag, and picked up her anti-vampire disc.

Yuuki went into a frenzy. "W-why do you have that? That's an anti-vampire weapon, isn't it? Not that I would know anything about that, I mean, I don't even believe in vampires-"

"Cross, relax! I know the night class is full of vampires!"

"What? But... Usually if you found out about that your memory would be erased," Yuuki mumbled.

Mizuki skipped onto the ledge, balanced for a moment, then plonked down and boldly swung her legs. "I knew about vampires long before I enrolled in Cross Academy. My Aunt – well, she's not really my Aunt – used to be a infamous vampire hunter, known as the Joker. She trained under the Headmaster, you know," she added offhandedly.

Yuuki drew a blank. "Huh?"

Mizuki figured he must not have told her he was a hunter and shrugged as though her comment was merely a passing thought she had spoken aloud. She rose from her spot and threw her disc out into the air like a Frisbee, but it returned to her gloved hand like a boomerang. "So what's up with Kiryu?"

Yuuki pulled a pouty expression and folded her arms. "I don't know. That jerk never tells me anything. Jerk," she repeated for emphasis.

"Well," Mizuki's voice had lowered an octave, but it was calm, displaying no harm or threat, "everyone has a secret to keep, and some secrets are better left untold. You should see my family, Cross. We're not exactly your average neighbors."

Something caught Yuuki's eye and she sprang onto the wall next to Mizuki. She squinted and peered at the west side of the grounds. "Day Class girls, off to snap pictures again," she sighed.

Mizuki grinned and jumped off the ledge, Yuuki following closely in her tracks. "Let's go then!" Mizuki recognized one of the girls as her roommate and decided to have a little fun with this. She put her weapon away, dug her heel into the ground, took off and leaped onto her roommate's back. The girl screamed out loud and both of them toppled down until Mizuki was in a laughing heap on top of her.

"What the-! You nearly scared the skirt off of me!" she protested.

Mizuki wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Keep your skirt on, it's just me! You should have seen the look on your face! Priceless! That's what you get for sneaking out in the middle of the night!"

Yuuki jogged up beside her. "Natsujina!"

"Sorry! It was just too good of an opportunity to miss!"

Yuuki swapped her personality with her inner Disciplinary Committee member. "It's curfew for day class students. Back to the dorms, both of you!"

For some reason, Mizuki had also taken a dramatic swing in attitude. "Cross, would you mind escorting them back to the dorm rooms without me?"

Yuuki witnessed her sliding the disc out of her bag and staring hard into the distance. She caught on quickly, immediately gave a bright, "Sure!" and hustled the girls away.

Once they were out of sight, Mizuki shouted, "Come out! I know someone's there!"

"Mizuki!" A woman's scream beckoned her, breaking in the middle when she called her name.

That voice... It sounded familiar. "Who's there?"

"Mizuki!"

Suddenly it hit her. She dropped her fighting stance and dashed toward the sound. "Shika? Shika, where are you?"

The snap of a branch, the rustle of pounding footsteps, and Shika came tearing around the corner, almost running into her friend in the process.

"Shika?" Mizuki gasped. Her night class uniform was ripped, her hair was a tangled mess of knots, and her blank, blue eyes reflected back horror and absolute fear.

Shika sank to the ground clawing at Mizuki's skirt and almost pulling her down too. "You must help me!" She took a rasping breath and her grip on Mizuki tightened.

"Shika, what's going on?"

"They are coming," she said in a voice so haunting it made a chill run down Mizuki's spine. "They are coming. You have to help me. I cannot go back there." Her empty gaze was so horrifying, Mizuki felt a pang of fear as well.

"Wait- what- who's coming?" Mizuki spluttered.

An echoing growl coursed through the night.

Shika cried out, shut her eyes firmly, and shook her head from side to side. "No! No! I cannot go back! Do not let them take me back there!" Tears spilled from her eyes and her body was racked with sobs.

Mizuki tugged her up from the ground, grabbed her hand, then raced away from the evil sound. They ran directly out of the Academy gates. Mizuki's sleeve got snagged on it, and when she tore it away she felt a trickle of blood seep down her arm. She swore on a breath so soft it could barely be heard.

"Mizuki?" Shika groped the air for her.

A flash of blue lightning lit the air and struck the dirt just out of school grounds.

"Hey! What in hell's name do ya think you're doing?" It was Kana, running up and taking Shika in her arms.

"Aunty Kana, what's-?"

"No time for explanations, kiddo, come on!" At the nearest car, Kana was picking away at the lock, then she bent down, fiddled with the wires, and had the engine revving in no time.

Without a second thought, Mizuki and Shika clambered into the backseat of the car and Kana took off at breakneck speed down the road. "Raiden!" she called.

Another shock rippled through the air and Raiden hauled himself inside. "The hell? Where did you get this?" he bellowed over the roar of the engine. He had a deep cut on his forehead that was dripping blood down over his right eye.

"I can still hot-wire a car, despite what you might think! I'll return it tomorrow, maybe!" Kana veered hard to the right and came to a screeching halt at their front door.

Mizuki gasped and felt her skin prickle when Takuma jumped down from the hood of the car. On the other hand, Kana's reaction was to scream, shove him, and shout, "Damn you! How'd you get up there in the first place?"

He shot her a pointed toothed grin and ruffled his wind-swept hair. "I'm stronger than I appear."

"So you just rode here on the roof of a high-speed car?"

"Exactly."

Raiden took a shaken Shika by the shoulders, guided her inside, and said quietly, "I think it would be best to keep her here from now on."

That was when Mizuki decided she was fed up with all this secret keeping. "Aunty Kana, Raiden, Shika, Takuma, I really don't care which on of you tells me what happened when you-" She directed her words to Raiden "-disappeared for two years."

"Mizuki, not now," Raiden said softly.

"Yes now! I'm the only one who doesn't know what happened!"

"Mizuki-"

"I'm not a child, I want to know!"  
>"Mizuki, that's enough."<p>

She reeled back. Never, not once in her life had she seen Raiden angry with her. Behind his indigo eyes she could see flits of electricity that sent out a warning signal to back down. His eyebrows came together in the middle so his nose was wrinkled at the top in irritation. The drying blood on his face didn't help to ease her fear either. There was only one other time she had seen that look of anger plastered on his face;

When he had returned to the testing center that had subjected him to experimentation.

Like a wolf who had been shown the true leader of the pack, Mizuki backed off and let Raiden take Shika inside, Kana following.

She looked up Takuma as if for some kind of reassurance that Raiden wasn't really mad at her but he didn't meet her gaze. He had his strong jaw set, smile gone, eyes serious. He was tying a bandage around her bleeding upper arm and pulling it firmly. "Does it hurt?" he said gently, secretly trying not become intoxicated by the scent of her blood.

Mizuki looked away, ashamed at how selfish and she was. While she was arrogantly sticking her nose in the air, Shika had been panicking and she had just stamped her foot like a disobedient child. "No, not really."

Takuma rose and welcomed her into his arms. "He's not really angry with you. It was just bad timing, that's all."

Mizuki exhaled deeply. "Thank you, but I don't think I'm the one who really needs to be comforted right now."

Takuma took her hand and the both of them found Shika in Mizuki's bedroom, huddled under a blanket, sky colored eyes still looking frightened. They heard the bed creak as they settled down on opposite sides of her.

"Look at you," Mizuki said, careful presenting no threat in her words. "Your pretty hair is all tangled." She scooped up a brush and raked it through the white-blonde spiderwebs, unraveling all of the knots and twisting it through her fingers.

"Handsome! Get your butt over here and help me with this thing, Mr. I'm-stronger-than-you-think!" There was a distinct crash and a yelp from the kitchen. Takuma pulled a worried expression and went to find the source.

Mizuki swept a string of hair off Shika's collar bone. "Do you want anything?"

"Will you... Will you get Raiden for me?"

"Yep, sure I will." Mizuki wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, turned to leave and almost bumped into a concerned looking Raiden.

"Mizuki, I-"

She put out a hand before he could get in three words. "Don't even try to apologize. Shika's the one who needs to see you, not me."

Raiden patted her shoulder and whispered, "That's my girl." Mizuki watched him sit down beside Shika and whisper good things in the same, calm voice he had always used when she was frightened. She smiled softly and hoped Shika would be able to stay here, with them, for a while.

Mizuki had always wanted an older sister.

"Is Shika asleep?"

Raiden wasn't surprised when he closed the door and was immediately bombarded by an anxious Mizuki. He rumpled her hair and smiled lightly. "Yes. I would like to hope you don't mind sharing a room."

"Nope, not a bit."

He sighed. "I'll tell you what happened, but I'm not going to make Shika relive that; she's almost as fragile in mind as in body. You're right, I should have told you, but _you_ shouldn't have pushed the matter."

Mizuki squirmed a little uncomfortably. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Positive."

Raiden sighed again. "Fine then. I'll tell you everything.

"Everything."

END OF CHAPTER 9


	10. Chapter 10

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

*Jumps out in dinosaur costume* RAWR!

OK, so today I'm going to give you this whole thing on my weird views about society. In my opinion humans aren't exactly making the best name for themselves. We made buildings! Great, you destroyed fifty acres of good land in the process! We do stuff like that and then wonder why the world is falling into ruin. I don't see the difference between humans and vampires; we both just throw ourselves into war and kill each other because we can't agree, then we make statues out of villainous murderers and proclaim them heroes. You give someone fangs, they're an evil creature of darkness, give a man a gun, he's a war hero. We make cars that spit out pollution and make a big show of us trying to fix the bad air that was perfectly good before we came along. We basically cause all of our own problems in the world, complain to no one in particular, and just ignore what was our fault. That's my opinion anyway (so don't take it to heart). This whole thing kinda relates to the poem (it's a cinquain, by the way) so that's why I said all that...

I try to put a lot of feeling into writing. More than half of the stuff in here I've never experienced so I really try to play off of human emotions.

Sorry this chapter took so long! I'll make up for this by adding bonus character profiles at the end of it! FORGIVE MEEE!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES THANK YOU FOR BOTHERING TO READ MY FAN-FICTION AND MAKING ME FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING THANK YOOOOOU!

CHAPTER 10

_Vampires  
>Blood-thirsty, murderous<em>

_Hunting, howling, haunting,_

_Creatures of the night_

_Monsters._

_Humans_

_Vain, selfish_

_Chasing, catching, chilling_

_Hunters of only self-sustenance_

_Monsters._

_Are we really that different from what we call monsters?_

_ It was just another typical day. Raiden had gone out to town for groceries. That was it. Just that. It was just another ordinary day._

_ Then the screaming started._

_ It was a young woman, early twenties, with long, white-blonde hair. She was running from something that was obviously chasing her, every once in a while she would swivel around and blast it with a jet of water conjured from what seemed like thin air. Her eyes were red, switching briefly to lavender, and she had two long fangs hidden on either side of her pale lips. A vampire if he had ever seen one. For someone who had known Kana for years, she was easy to spot. Raiden squinted at her. Something was obviously wrong here. The woman was injured – she was so drenched in blood it was surprising she could still stand. She may have been somewhat delirious from blood loss, but she was loosing her footing and running into things every three steps. He squinted harder, his sharp vision trying to bore into her eyes. Her eyes. It was almost as if she...  
>Raiden froze.<em>

_ A mad vampire, a level E, leaped from the building adjacent to the woman, prominent fangs bared. She screamed and tried to shield herself from the attack when her blind eyes detected a flash of light. A guttural scream pierced the air as Raiden shot it with a blast of electricity so powerful it could have blown out the entire city. He boiled with anger and electricity radiated throughout his entire body. He scooped the woman up from the ground and ran from the oncoming wave of vampires._

_ The woman gasped and felt a prick of electrical currents flow through her ragged body. The last thing she remembered was that current before she blacked out._

_ The woman shifted in her sleep and opened her unseeing eyes to the bright light of a sunset. She could hear the rumble of a car engine and feel the occasional bump in the road. She was freezing, dizzy, and craving blood, but the blanket wrapped around her did help how cold she was._

_ "You awake back there, sweetheart?"_

_ The woman jerked up and cried out as her whole body ached. Her eyes were bright red._

_ "Easy there, you've lost a lot of blood. I was going to take you to my fiancee to be treated, but I need to stop the bleeding first." Raiden pulled over an cracked open the back door._

_ Th-thump._

_ He unraveled the blanket and leaned in to inspect her injures._

_ Th-thump, th-thump._

_ He saw her shiver when he wiped the blood off of her face with his thumb._

_ Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump._

_ She couldn't take it anymore, the woman sank her fangs into his neck._

_ He gave a yelp like a wounded dog, more in shock than in pain._

_ His dark, red blood drizzled down her chin as mouthful after mouthful flooded over her tongue. She pried her fangs from his flesh and looked at him once with her hollow, dead eyes, then slumped down onto the backseat, nearly unconscious. "You have to help me," she said, voice barely audible. "I need you to help me."_

_ Raiden pressed a hand to his neck. "Help y... With what?"_

_ "I will do anything. I need you to take me somewhere, but it is very far away and I cannot go alone."_

_ "Where?"_

_ "I need you to take me... To London."_

_ "LONDON?" Raiden shouted, his jaw dropping. "B-but I don't even know your name. Look, I'm just going to take you to Kana and then-"_

_ "Please," she said quietly, tears streaming out of her now blue eyes. "You are my only hope."_

_ Raiden grimaced. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. "I can't just run off to England without batting an eyelash, I at least need some time to think. Could I take you to a hotel? Just for tonight? It's dark out and you're all cut up." He paused and rethought his last sentence. "Stupid thing to say. Forget the whole dark out thing. You're hurt, I'm tired. Let's just go to a hotel."_

_ "All right."_

_ "Are you at least going to give me your name? I'm Raiden Natsujina."_

_ "Tachibana."_

_ "Not your surname, your given one."_

_ Shika paused and remembered something a little blonde boy had said to her. "Shika. My name is Shika."_

_ "Do you have our passports, Mr. Natsujina?"_

_ "Yeah, I got 'em. You know I'm just dropping you off in England then flying straight back here, got it?"_

_ "Yes. I will pay you back in full once I reach London."_

_ "Kana's going to have my head when she finds out I spent our money and ran off to another country right before our wedding. Halfway around the world with a girl I barely know..." He shook his head in positive awe._

_ "Kana? She is your fiancee, correct?"_

_ "Yeah," Raiden said blissfully, day-dreaming of his future wife in her white gown. It was almost scary how closely he resembled Kaien Cross in that moment. Then suddenly, the smile dropped from his face. "Go, go," he hissed, ushering Shika onto the plane just before the gates closed._

_ "What was it?"_

_ "One of those men," Raiden said grimly. "He had a walkie-talkie and was looking at us like a panther hunting down its latest prey." They took their seats, Raiden put in his earphones, and they were relatively silent the rest of the trip._

_ "WHAT IN THE NAME OF SATEN DO YOU MEAN INVALID?" Raiden roared. The woman at the front desk trembled and explained once again that his passport was invalid. Raiden cussed language so foul it beat out anything Kana could have come up with. The woman was so frightened she actually called security to drag him out._

_ "Bastards! You can't throw me out!" he struggled._

_ "You heard what the lady said. It's invalid, now get the hell out."_

_ "Get the hell out, my ass! You don't know what I'm capable of, you little mother f-"_

_ The security guard cut him off with a direct punch to the stomach. "Do I need to continue?"_

_ He gave him an evil smile, clutching his stomach, indigo eyes blazing with electricity. "I don't know. Do we?" he said in a voice so sinisterly chilling it made the hair on the back of the security guard's neck stand up._

_ "Fine. Just get out of here," he said, walking back inside the airport._

_ Raiden couldn't contain his anger. He slammed his fist into a telephone pole and shorted out the whole system, much to the amusement of a little boy strolling past. "Dammit!" he shouted, then his voice grew softer. "Dammit."_

_ "Mr. Natsujina ? Have you left?" Shika waited a moment for a response and when she didn't hear one, she felt a pang of sadness._

_ "I'm still here," a dead, husky voice said._

_ Shika lit up like a candle and followed the direction of the voice. She sat down on the bed next to Raiden, but felt an overwhelming rush of sadness radiating from him. "What is wrong?" She brushed his cheek with her hand and it came back wet._

_ Salty tears trickled down his face as he whispered, "Invalid. My passport is invalid. If I try to give anyone my name they claim I'm a convict and I'm not allowed to travel anywhere outside of London. I can't get back home. My fiancee and my adopted daughter... I'll never be able to see them again." He dropped off with a choked sound and shakily pressed his lips to the picture of his beloved family._

_ "Why does that matter?"_

_ Raiden laughed weakly. "You don't get it, do you? That's OK, I didn't expect you to. Will you answer something for me? Why are you being pursued by those fiends? And who sent them?"_

_ Shika played with the tear between her first finger and thumb. "They were sent by the Senate. Head of the Vampire Council to be specific. When I was younger, I was jailed by the head of the Vampire C_

_ouncil, Asato Ichijo – Ichio – because of my blood. It can be used as a source of healing to other vampires, so many are after it. Ichio thought if he never allowed me outside, it would prevent me from being pursued, so he could keep me to himself. He blamed _me_ and said it was because of my, 'fragility' and 'poor health' and my 'disability'. He never considered my feelings in the slightest. So one day, I ran away. I have been running ever since."_

_ Raiden wrapped his arm a around her shoulder. "You've got it pretty rough," he said bitterly._

_ "Where did you get your electrical abilities from?"_

_ Raiden rolled up his left pant leg and placed her pale hand on his ankle. "It's not braille, but I think you can figure gout what it says. It's English letters too, if that helps."_

_ "T...G...4...0...4? What is that?"_

_ "My code," he said, eying his tattoo unhappily. "I was branded with it when I was fifteen. A frothing mix of chemicals, needles, experiments, and taa-daa, you have given a man the power to manipulate electricity and more emotional and physical scarring than anyone could ever imagine."_

_ "I am going to ask you one more question; Why did you rescue me? I have no significant meaning in your life, I am a stranger, and I am a vampire, so... Why?"_

_ "Why?" Raiden repeated in a daze. He was remembering a young boy who had his eyesight snatched away from him by his friend. "Because it's not fair to pick on someone who's blind."_

Mizuki pressed her fingertips together and concentrated hard. It was the next day, nearly evening. "So what happened after you found out you couldn't get back? I thought Shika was looking for her parents."

"She was. Her mother committed suicide years ago and no one knew who her father was, just that he was an aristocratic vampire."

"Well, if you had been deemed a criminal, how did you get back to Japan?"

Takuma grinned like a fox and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "A certain Ichijo pulled a few strings."

Raiden gave him a small smile, but frowned before saying, "Takuma, I take it you haven't told your grandfather that it was you who helped Shika and I out of England? And that your friendship with her and the rest of this family is unknown?"

His fox-like grin turned sheepish. "Eh heh... No. I haven't told him..."

Raiden grit his teeth and said savagely, "Then that's why we're still being pursued. Part of it, at least. Kana told me that you and Mizuki were attacked by one of them once and that it injured you pretty badly, Takuma. Ran you through with a pipe, huh? The same happened at the wedding and tonight. I've come to the obvious conclusion that we are still technically on-the-run convicts in the eyes of the Vampire Council and Asato Ichijo. Worse, they've begun to target this family. Takuma, I was wondering, would you mind talking to your grandfather for me? I think if either Shika or myself took one step into the gates, we would both be nothing but rags."

Takuma smiled. "Of course I will, it's the least I can do after all the trouble they've caused you. Actually, I have some time on my hands, so why don't I go now?"

Relief washed over Raiden like a wave. "Thank you, Takuma."

Mizuki latched onto her lover and bluntly refused to let go. "I'm coming with you. I promise I won't make a commotion if you let me." When she gave him the puppy-dog eyes, he caved and allowed her to follow him out the door.

Raiden cracked a smile when they left and remembered a specific phone call he had received in London. _"Yes?" Raiden said warily into the phone. A Japanese number that had actually gotten through to him? For the first time in two years?_

_ "Hello? Is this Mr. Raiden Natsujina?"_

_ "Who is this?" Raiden said hurriedly without answering the question. Had he been expecting a woman's voice instead of a man's? Maybe it was just wishful thinking._

_ "Ah, of course; my name is Ichijo."_

_ The color drained from his face. Shika had mentioned Asato Ichijo too many times for him not to remember the name. "Why are you calling me, Ichijo?" he snarled._

_ The voice on the phone sounded a little taken aback. "I don't think you understand. My name is Takuma Ichijo. I know Mizuki Natsujina."_

_ Raiden gripped the phone like it was the only thing keeping him standing. "Mizuki?" he said hoarsely, completely forgetting the fact that he was an Ichijo._

_ "And Kana."_

_ He almost laughed and had to fight tears of joy. "H-how are they? Are they doing all right?"_

_ He could tell the Takuma was smiling right through the phone. "Yes, they're great. Although, they miss you very much. Mr. Natsujina, I have been informed of your situation and I have a proposal for you; how would you like to come back to Japan and see them?"_

_ Raiden had to stop himself from collapsing onto his bed._

_ "Mr. Natsujina?"_

_ "Yes!" he gasped. "Please, t-take me back home!"_

_ He could hear the smile again. "Good, I'll be in contact with you soon."_

_ He sat there in awe for a minute. Finally. He was finally going to see his family again. It was a miracle._

_ Shika came out drying her hair. "Who was that? I heard you speaking Japanese," she said._

_ Raiden grinned like a madman. "Pack your bags, Shika. We're going to Japan."_

Takuma glanced around uneasily. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and the fact that Mizuki was there wasn't helping to calm his nerves. She had already asked him why he was so tense and he had replied he just hadn't seen his grandfather in a while. Good answer: a perfectly logical response that gave absolutely nothing away. She had bought it because he was still smiling as happily as ever, even though inside he was anxious. Takuma tried to think of it as just a leisurely stroll; No, of course he wasn't going to confront his grandfather. Even though he had assured himself of this, he still held his katana tightly and checked once more that Mizuki's disc was safely tucked away in her bag. He could sense something was wrong. Very wrong.

Unfortunately, Takuma's senses turned out to be spot on.

"Mizuki, get down!" he shouted, unsheathing the katana, his sword, and turning it on a surprise attacker. It missed by a radius of a inch and for a second Takuma thought he might get hurt. Then a knife hit the vampire squarely between the eyes and it turned to ash that blew around his ankles.

"I can't believe you," Kana muttered irritably, lighting up a cigarette. "First you yell at my kid to duck when she can perfectly well manage on her own and then you make me take care of this thing for you. Whaddya think you're doing? You wanna just waltz into the Senate with a Natsujina family member? I'll give ya a hint, handsome: Raiden and Shika aren't the only ones they're targeting even if they're their top priority."

Takuma smiled lightly. "Sorry, I thought I could handle it."

Kana's serious face broke into a wolfish grin. "You look like you just got a new pair of socks or something," she said, making a hand-it-over motion with one hand and taking a long draw on her cigarette. "Quit smiling like that and toss me my knife."

"Quit smoking like that and maybe I will."

Kana cocked an eyebrow at his comeback, but flicked her cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out with the heel of her boot. "Fine, just give it here." She caught his good throw and waved goodbye. "I'm outta here. I suggest you do the same before more of 'em show up. I dunno whether they realize you're an Ichijo or not, but if they do it sure as hell don't matter to them. You're in danger and I'm not gonna stop you, but please try not to drag Mizuki down into it."

Mizuki stuck out her tongue. "Aunty Kanaaa, he is NOT dragging me down with him! It's my choice and I'll be fine!"

"Whatever, kiddo!" Kana called before she disappeared into the sunset.

Takuma took Mizuki's hand, smiled when she turned red, and carried on for a few peaceful minutes like nothing had happened. But Kana was right, there were more.

They got to Mizuki first. Two of them ganged up on her; one got her in the back of her head (knocking her glasses to the ground and cracking one of the lenses) while the other occupied her attention from the front. She hit the first one horizontally with her disc right before the second hit her head, causing her to see stars and blink dizzily. The disc came back like a boomerang and she used it to slice vertically through the Level E.

Takuma would have been helping her if he didn't have his own problems. While two of them had come at her, five had sensed his vampire blood, picked him the stronger enemy, and launched themselves at him instead. He handled the first two with minor difficulty, but the last three were more clever and attacked as a group; two of them pinned either arm down while the third raked it's claws through his chest. Takuma cried out in agony and struggled to free himself from their grasp, but they were too strong and kept him locked in place. Blood poured from his body in a waterfall and the skin on his chest was shredded by the claws of the other vampire. His heart pounded in his ears, adrenaline coursed through his body, and in an overwhelming rush of strength he flipped all three off of him. He let his own claws grow inches in seconds and slashed through all three of the Level Es in one fatal blow.

"Takuma?" Mizuki put her broken glasses back on and tried to stop the world from spinning.

Takuma was battling himself to keep his vampire instincts from taking over and controlling him. The alternative to drinking Mizuki's blood now was to drink from someone else later, and take the consequences. He stumbled, the adrenaline rush he had experienced moments ago was fading rapidly. There wasn't much left in him now, but even so he could still hear Mizuki screaming his name.

And the ground rushed up to meet him very suddenly.

Takuma groaned. He felt terrible and was smarting all over. How long had he been out? He remembered fighting the Level Es off and then... Everything after that was just a blur. Something smelled really good but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He moaned again, trying to stay conscious and open his eyes.

His head was in Mizuki's lap and she was stroking his golden hair. "Thank god you're all right, Takuma."

He looked at her bleakly and attempted a smile, but dropped it almost immediately after. He looked down at his chest and was nearly dizzy at the sight of how much blood he had lost. The realization hit him then: That sweet smell was Mizuki's blood. He changed the course of his vision to her neck. Oh, how tempting it was, how easily he could have taken it, how badly he wanted to sink his teeth into human flesh and feel that warm, luscious blood spill over his tongue to stain it red. Takuma swallowed and fixated his sights on her jugular.

Mizuki took note of it quickly. She slipped off her jacket and undid the first button on her white shirt so it revealed her slim neck.

Takuma's heart beat louder then ever and his red eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Right here," she said in a soft whisper, pointing to a specific spot on her jugular. "It's OK, Takuma."

"I-I couldn't," he said, but he couldn't break his gaze on her neck.

"You need to. Come on, I promise it wont hurt me. I hate it when you get hurt because you can't smile for me. If you drink my blood them it will make you feel better and you can smile again, right? So just..." she trailed off.

Takuma couldn't hear her anymore. He could see every vein in her neck and was intoxicated by the scent. _No. Stop it,_ he thought. _Don't do it. You can't! It's Mizuki! _But it was to late. The primitive nature buried deep inside of him was taking over bit by bit. He ran his tongue gingerly over his prominent fangs, he was breaking ever-so slowly. It was just so...

Tempting.

Then, Takuma Ichijo embedded his fangs into Mizuki's neck.

Hot blood flowed over his tongue and he shuddered in relief. He had been correct in every aspect of how good it would taste, but even better. He gulped it down, relishing every last drop he could swallow. He hated himself for enjoying it, being intoxicated by it.

"That's right. It's OK, I know, I know you don't want to, but you need to. You're just fine." Mizuki combed his locks back with a few fingers

Fine? Of course he was f... No. That was a flat out lie. He was shaking like a leaf and he couldn't wrench himself away. But her blood did the trick: seconds after he could taste her, his wounds started to heal themselves. For a minute, he was afraid that he would drink her dry before he could break away. Finally though, he tore his fangs from her neck and reeled back panting. Slowly, his tongue moved up his crimson lips and licked the blood from his cheek and chin.

"Takuma?" Mizuki grazed a hand across her bleeding neck. "You all right?"

Takuma didn't answer. He couldn't bear to look at her right then, even if his eyes were back to their original evergreen, he had just committed the ultimate sin with the girl he adored. What would Kaname say if he ever found out? What would Raiden and Kana think if he ever told them? He didn't want to know, he just wiped the blood off the outer ridges of his mouth.

"Takuma," Mizuki said sternly. "Don't psych yourself out. Everything's going to be just-" she swayed dangerously and toppled forward into his arms. "-fine."

Takuma caught her and shook his head. It was his fault. If only he hadn't decided to pay a visit to his grandfather, maybe then they wouldn't be in this mess.

"I'll be all right, don't worry about me." Mizuki pushed herself back up and took his face in her hands. "Hey, look at me." Takuma made eye contact reluctantly. "Aw. Don't give me that face, you look so sad. Where's that smile?"

Takuma didn't even try.

Mizuki smiled for him and pressed her lips to his passionately. "Come on, show it to me, Takuma."

Takuma couldn't help it. The situation was horrible, it was bad timing, but it was so ironic he couldn't help but break into a grin.

"There you go. Hey, I want you to swear something to me; promise me you'll always love me, no matter what happens. I don't care if you end up with another girl in the end, just swear to me that you'll always care for me. OK? Promise?"

Takuma grinned and kissed her one more time. He took her prominent cheek bones in his large hands, looked her directly into her big, brown eyes, leaned in, and whispered, "I promise. I'll always love you.

"Forever."

END OF CHAPTER TEN

**Bonus!**

I've been waiting forever to do this! ^-^ Basically, this is all this information know on the characters thus far (heh... Thus... I love that word,) and a few little tidbits from me (you don't have to read them...) on how I got my ideas for certain things.

These are the sites I used to find my Japanese and German names. Most of the names anyway... (I knew a few already.)

www. /female_japanese_

www. /male_japanese_

www. /male_german_

美月 (亮) Mizuki (Akira)

**Mizuki:** Beautiful moon (**Akira:** Clear)

**Age: **16

**Height:** 5'7

**Appearance: **Brown eyes, brown hair (clean cut hair just above her shoulders and clean cut bangs across her forehead). Circular glasses. Prefers to wear comfortable clothes

**Personality:** She's shy when she first meets people, but once she warms up she is remarkably open. Attaches to people easily and tends to trust at first look. Speaks her mind.

**Past: **Was brutally beat by her father in the past and ran away from home. Met Raiden and Kana and started to write poems.

**Occupation: **Unpaid poet

**Family:** Considers Raiden and Kana her real family, father, mother (deceased)

**Other:** Is currently trying to surpass Kana in height. She was never officially adopted. Her real name is Akira, but she never used that name and officially changed it once she got a new home. Is deeply in love with Takuma. She may refer to Kana as her aunt, but she refuses to call Raiden her uncle.

Mizuki kinda came about in the spur of the moment. (Actually, all of these characters did and everything just seemed to fall into place...) She's a lot like me, or, how I wish I could be. When I was coming up with the idea for this character, I was thinking of having her be an author. I changed my mind because... I was reading a fictional novel about an author and his book and I got lost. So I decided to have her be a poet instead. ^-^

香奈子 Kanako

**Kanako:** Fragrant Nara (city in japan) child

**Age:** 38

**Height:** 5'8

Appearance: Brown eyes, brown hair (two inches past her shoulders, bangs that fall in front of her eyes, when tending to patients she ties her hair back into a bun and clips her bangs off to the side). Likes to wear large jackets, especially her old hunter's jacket, and is fine with everything but skirts.

**Personality:** She's very overpowering and has a hot temper. Can be surly, annoying, direct, etc. but is actually very kind and warm hearted. No matter how many insults she throws at him, she is still good friends with Headmaster Kaien Cross.

**Past:** Was a ferocious vampire hunter in the past known as Joker because of her uncontrollable love for killing and laughing manically when she did. But after meeting and falling in love with Raiden, quit and went on to become a doctor

**Occupation:** (previously was a vampire hunter) Unlicensed doctor

**Family:** Mother (?), father (?), husband

** Other:** Was a smoker until she met Raiden and then he helped her smoke a lot less. The reason she smoked is because it would help to calm her after a hunt. When Raiden disappeared she took up the habit again for comfort and is currently trying to quit entirely. She is a doctor without a degree; knows her way around the medical world but never went to collage, never the less, she is still able to make a good living. She's actually the older off the two and it drives Raiden crazy because he (appropriately?) considers himself to be the more mature

I really like this character. ^-^ I wanted to have a character with a huge personality that can still manage some comic relief... You can have your own opinion on my (attempted) jokes... The decision to make her a vampire hunter back in chapter two was last minute, but I'm glad she was. The art fair at my school was back again a few weeks ago when I first wrote this and last year's winner was an amazing painting of the Joker. I thought this would be the perfect title and figured I could turn her into a vicious murderer who has gone insane with the desire to kill.

鹿 Shika

**Shika:** Deer

**Age:** 24

**Height: **5'7

Appearance: Light blue eyes (blind), white-blonde hair (falls to her waist, likes to style it differently everyday, her bangs are kept neat, but they aren't clean cut like Mizuki's). Prefers skirts and leggings to long pants. Usually only wears black, purple, and blue colors. Likes a lot of jewelry but refuses to wear rings

** Personality: **She's quiet and sheltered. Even though she can be described as distant she gets along easily with those who accept her unsocial personality

**Past: **Was confined in a small room because her blood can be used as a healing source that may have been targeted and had received almost no contact from the outside world until she met Takuma. Disappeared mysteriously 11 years prior and has only recently returned with Raiden. They ran off together, him trying to help her out-run the Senate and her trying to discover where her parents were.

**Occupation:** Unemployed ( for the moment. Later on in the story I was planning on having her become a singer.)

**Family:** Mother (deceased), father (?)

** Other:** Was blind since birth and loves to stick her feet in the water ever since Takuma took her to the garden. She always smells faintly of flowers, probably because of the flowers in the garden. Her vampire ability as an aristocrat is to manipulate water without actually touching it. She can also use the water molecules in the air to conjure water if there is none nearby.

I already had a character who was blind in another story and figured I could use it in here. Her appearance – white-blonde hair, blue eyes – again, from another story I'm writing. For those of you who have seen Darker Than Black, she's a little like Yin with my own dark twist. Her look is different though.

雷電 Raiden

**Raiden: **(Raijin, Kaminari-sama, Narukami-sama, and Raiden-sama are all names of a storm god in Japanese mythology) Thunder and lightning

**Age:** 37

**Height: **5' 11

**Appearance: **Indigo eyes, light brown hair (he keeps it neat during the week, but on weekends it's very unkempt, this drives Kana crazy, it's a little shorter than Takuma's, he's also clean-shaven on work days but doesn't mind a little stubble on weekends). Looks very professional when he's working (suits), but when he's at home he likes to wear comfortable shirts and jeans. Pushes Kana's buttons with his lazyness

**Personality:** He seems like the kind of person anyone would be able to get along with. He's easygoing and kind. Truly loves Kana with all of his heart. Has a calming effect on people, and isn't easily angered.

** Past:** He was used for experimentation when he was fifteen years old under the name TG-404 and can now control electricity. He has a tattoo on his left ankle with that label. He met Shika two years ago. They ran off together, him trying to help her out-run the Vampire Council and her trying to discover where her parents were. He has a soft spot for people who can't see because at fifteen he took the eyesight of his only friend.

**Occupation:** Electrical engineer

**Family: **Mother, father, sister, wife

**Other:** Although he'll never tell her, he likes it best when Kana kisses his cheek. Surprising unorganized and sloppy.

**I swear I did NOT take anything about Raiden from any video game he's in! -_- **He's my favorite and most complex character by far, so, naturally, I have a lot to say about him: I was looking for Japanese names, found Raiden, liked the sound of it, and didn't think about it much after that. Then I was thinking Raiden needed some sort of ability or power. I thought back to the translation of the name and he became electrified. About the nightmare... I already knew that he was going to have something in his past effect the reasoning for his disappearance with Shika for two years. The nightmare had to be horrifying enough to make him sick too. I was writing a Hunger Games fan-fiction and the main character had a nightmare about what he did to a girl in the games... Believe it or not, I actually got the eyes-floating-in-glass idea from SpongeBob. 0.0 Then, I just racked my brain for what would terrify me if I was Raiden. I abuse my characters so much and most of the time they are so sweet and friendly...

Next chapter will be set one year from now, and I should have it finished in a few weeks. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little bonus!

-crimZonvampire


	11. Epilogue

**A Sweet Fanged Smile**

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS! I am obviously going to write more fan-fiction, so here's my news: If you like what I've done with this story I URGE YOU TO READ MY OTHERS! PLEEEEESE! I don't have any titles in mind, but I'm writing another one for Vampire Knight and maybe one for Hunger Games also. I probably wont submit them until the new school year starts... THIS IS THE ONLY THING I WILL EVER ASK OF ANY OF MY READERS SO PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER SOON-TO-BE FAN-FICTIONS!

I've decided to end this story here, I was going to go until chapter 15, but I've changed my mind. I don't have any good ideas for a continuation and the few that I do are either not interesting, or they're just repeats of the original story. I'd rather end it here and say it was a good story then end it later and slowly sink into the boring zone. In the poem down below, Mizuki uses the word "Sayonara". For those of you who don't know, sayonara is the Japanese word for goodbye, used for when you wont see the person for a while. Please keep that in mind while reading that. I really like this ending. Bitter-sweet is all to perfect a word for it. I'm happy I got to see it through to the end, this has really been one of my favorites. I would like to thank you all once again for reading this. And now, crimZonvampire presents to you, the final chapter of A Sweet Fanged Smile.

(Epilogue) One Year Later...

Takuma's knuckles were whiter than they had ever been in his life. What he was about to do... Was he really ready for it? Was he really so bold as to go this far? Maybe he was just a fool, but he was determined to do it. Even if it meant his life.

"You sure you're prepared for this?" Kana said in a low, dry voice.

Takuma smiled softly – one of his sad smiles – and nodded. "Yes. I'm going to confront my grandfather tonight. I simply came here to bid you all goodbye."

Raiden rubbed the bridge of his nose, something he did when he was either trying to process a load of stressful information or when he had a headache. In this case, both. "Goodbye? Then you're positive this confrontation will mean your... End?" He couldn't bring himself to say the word death. He had told Takuma before that he was like a son to him.

"Not positive, but that's what I'm assuming."

"And Mizuki?" Shika said. It was the first time she had spoken since Takuma had knocked on their front door looking as grim as a man who was sentenced to hang.

Takuma gazed into Shika's lifeless eyes and took her cold hand in both of his warm ones. Despite his almost certain demise, he was rather calm. As if he had known it all along. "I would appreciate it if you don't tell her. I don't think she would be able to handle it."

"Good man," Raiden muttered.

Shika exhaled and mumbled, "And what of Lord Rido Kuran? The Senate? The Hunter's Association?"

"They will all be battling on the grounds of Cross Academy. I've made my choice and I know my next move. My plan is set, but what do you all plan to do-?"

"Fight, of course," Kana interjected before he could finish his last word. "What else would we do? If I know those bastards at the Association, then they'll be sending out their little hoard of hybrid Level Es to go after Rido. They've most likely made the realization that sending them will just ensure the Night Class has some trouble, I guess that's either what they planned or they just plain don't care. I doubt Kaien and that other hunter Yagari will be able to handle them on their own. Besides, I haven't seen some action in a while and my skills are gonna get dull. Breaking out my knives isn't too big a problem, and having Kaien owe me one isn't such a bad thing either."

Raiden shot her a worried look with his fiercely indigo eyes. "But what will happen if you... You know..."

"Go crazy?" Kana said.

Raiden looked away.

"I'm not concerned about that. If I do go wild it wont matter. All of the Level Es have to die anyway. Me loosing my marbles isn't gonna change that."

Raiden gave her one last longing look, sighed, and said tiredly, "Then I guess it's inevitable. I'm coming too." He flexed his fingers back and forth until white-hot electricity sparked in between them. "It would be pointless not to use the power that has been bestowed upon me, otherwise what good were all those needles?"

"What about you, Shika?" Kana said, sharpening a particularly large knife and tucking it away in the back of her hunter's jacket.

"I will battle alongside the other aristocrats. Cross Academy was once my home as well, it is my duty to protect it. That includes both the Day Class and the Night Class students. Takuma, what does Lord Kaname plan to do?"

"From what I could understand, he plans to destroy the Senate and my grandfather along with it. I was hoping to beat Kaname to it, this was just a stop I decided to make before I left. Are you sure you all want to go through with this?"

Kana grinned. "Do ya even know us at all? We're not exactly people who leave something half-way. 'Course we're gonna see it through to the end!"

Takuma looked around the room. All three of them were grinning from ear to ear and the adrenaline level was only increasing. He couldn't help but smile right along with them. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"C'mere." Kana pulled him into her arms in a soft, almost motherly hug and Takuma could feel her start to shake. "Shit!" She pulled away, blinking back tears. "Handsome, you bastard! Making me get all emotional."

Raiden looped one arm around her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "Kana, don't start crying _now."_

Kana snapped back at him, red-eyed, "I ain't cryin' and I'm not gonna start!"

Raiden chuckled mildly to himself and was the next one to give Takuma a spine-crushing, bear hug. "You're a good man, Takuma, and I expect you to visit us again sometime. It doesn't have to be in the _near _future, just try to make it the future."

"I'll try," Takuma said.

Shika was the last one to bid him farewell. _"Goodbye,"_ she said in English. Shika fiddled with the chain around her neck for a moment until she was able to unhook it. The locket. The same, golden locket Takuma had given to her when they were kids. She slid his katana out of it's sheath and tied the chain around the hilt if it. "I am returning this. It belongs to you now, please take good care of it." She slipped her arms around his neck, let them linger there for a moment, then drew them away.

He unclasped the small heart and looked at the pictures inside. In one end, a young, blonde boy grinning like he would never stop, and in the other, a light-haired woman in her mid-twenties, a soft smile making it's tread across her lips and her blind, blue eyes gazing somewhere off one side. "Thank you. I'll make sure nothing happen to it."

"I suppose it is time for you to leave now."

"Yes, I better get going if I'm plan on getting to my grandfather before Kaname does. You all better hurry up too, or you might miss all the action." Takuma yanked on his coat and smiled once more at them. "Goodbye, everyone. Thank you for all you've done for me. "

"Goodbye," they said together.

"One last favor I would like to ask of you. Say... Say goodbye to Mizuki for me."

Just before the front door closed, Kana gave him a wicked grin and a thumbs-up. "Gotcha, handsome."

He took his time heading down their driveway, glancing here and there around the garden. The piano, the pathway to the beach and the cliffs, the large willow tree that hung over the front of the house. Him and Mizuki had sat under that tree countless times. Memories came flooding back to him, but they were good ones. Ones he would like to take with him when it came down to him and Asato Ichijo.  
>"Where do you think you're going?"<p>

He whirled around, caught off guard and completely stunned. "Mizuki?"  
>She smiled, but her smile was... Odd. Like she knew what had happened and what his next move was. "You didn't think you could leave without saying goodbye to me, did you?"<p>

He grit his teeth. This was the very thing he had been trying to avoid.

Mizuki placed one hand on his shoulder and took the other one in hers. "Dance with me one more time. Please? I want to dance with you once more before you go. It's probably the last chance I'll ever get."

Takuma tried to get away without making it seem like he was doing so. "There's no music."

"We don't need any." Mizuki danced with him for a while, silently dancing their last waltz together, until she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. It was a long, lingering kiss. Their last kiss.

Takuma couldn't bring himself to smile. "Mizuki, I-"

She pressed a finger to her lips and gave him a bitter-sweet smile. "You don't have to say anything. I already know. You made me a promise, remember? You promised to always care for me. 'Forever.' That was what you said." She took his cheek into her hand.

He allowed his fingers find his way around that hand and closed his eyes. "Forever," he repeated, struggling desperately not to let his voice crack.

Mizuki pulled her hand away and pressed a package to his chest. "My last gift to you. My last poem for you."

"Thank you," he whispered. His voice didn't break, but it was trembling.

She gave him another kiss, took his hands in hers, then let go and walked backwards toward her house. "I'll help Raiden and Kana protect the Day Class so... Goodbye, Takuma."

He gave her a smile. "Goodbye, Mizuki."

On the way to the Senate, he unraveled the packaging to be greeted by the all too familiar swirled kanji. _A Poem For Takuma Ichijo, _It read. He poured over every line, every verse, every word, and placed a shaking hand over his smiling mouth. His vision blurred, his shoulders quaked, and tears caressed his cheeks until there were so many that they dripped down onto the paper.

Shocked didn't even begin to describe Takuma's reaction when he walked into the Senate building. Bodies everywhere, blood so thick it would splash when he walked, and the members of the Senate, all with their heads torn off. And from the looks of it... By their own blood-soaked hands. But of their own free will? That was an obvious no. This was a pureblood's doing, without a doubt. Then that meant... Kaname had beaten him to the Senate. Yes, he could feel it now, Kaname's presence. He hadn't noticed it before, maybe it was because he was so familiar with it. There was another presence in the building too, Asato Ichijo's. Good, at least Kaname hadn't beaten him to it yet. Takuma's thoughts were all jumbled together as he took his time through the pool of blood that was once the all-powerful Senate.

He paused in his tread. Something was off; his grandfather and Kaname had been in the same room almost moments before, but his grandfather's presence was getting weaker. Then it came to him and his eyes narrowed. An escape. Of course, that's exactly the kind of thing he would have planned. He had missed him. But apparently Kaname had too, for when Takuma walked in to his grandfather's office he found Kaname all by his lonesome.

The pureblood took a step to go after Ichio, but instead his eyes glanced back seemingly on their own when he heard the door creak open.

Takuma's expression was serious. He was going to go after his grandfather. This was his choice, and didn't want to trouble Kaname. His friend would take no part in this. "Please allow me to handle this one."

Kaname swiveled around to face his friend "Takuma?" he said. He seemed mildly surprised. _Seemed._ Takuma assumed it was really no surprise at all to him, it was merely the correct reaction for the moment.

Takuma's grip on his sword tightened and he looked Kaname directly in the eyes when he spoke. "As a vampire, I have betrayed you. However, as your friend, you have my word it will never happen again." He kept his green eyes locked with Kaname's dark, red ones. "Now please allow me to prove that to you"

Kaname paused, then he stepped aside. He patted Takuma's shoulder once before leaving. That hand on his shoulder held more than just a reassuring gesture behind it. Kaname knew what Takuma was about to attempt. Takuma closed his eyes and lifted his sword. "Thank you, Kaname"

Ichio walked at a leisurely pace down the long, dark tunnel. He raised his head only to see a slim, blonde figure at the end of it. "Takuma?"

Takuma unsheathed his sword, moonlight reflecting off its tip eerily.

Ichio narrowed his eyes and said seriously, "Come now, do you honestly intend to point that blade at me?" When Takuma didn't answer, Ichio continued, "This is not an attempt to beg for my life, but I had always hoped that you would follow in my footsteps and, one day, you would take over my place in the Senate."

The katana's sheath made a dull clattering sound as it his the ground "Let's put an end to this." The word _forever_ echoed in his ears. "Let's draw the curtains on the Ichijo family together."

Ichio exhaled.

Takuma raised his sword high above his head. The Senate was beginning to crumble around them. If he wanted to do this, it would need to be done quickly. He couldn't risk Ichio getting away. Mizuki... Her poem, he had hidden it in the sheath of his katana. He didn't need to look at it, though he hadn't tried to, he had ended up memorizing it. And as he stood face to face with Ichio, finally confronting his grandfather, her word's swirled and echoed inside ears.

_Eyes as bright as emeralds,_

_Hair like woven gold,_

_Shinning smile, bright white fangs,_

_Pale cheeks, so icy cold,_

_Skin like creamy ivory,_

_Fingers around mine wrapped,_

_A single kiss upon my cheek,_

_Leaves me senseless and entrapped,_

_The moon must be calling,_

_For I can hear the wolves cry,_

_The stars are awaiting,_

_Fly back to the sky,_

_It will be so long,_

_That we'll be apart,_

_But no matter how distant,_

_You'll stay in my heart,_

_I must bid you farewell,_

_Sayonara and a__dieu,_

_But you made me a promise,_

_That your love would stay true,_

_Now goodbye, my sweet love,_

_I'll miss you so,_

_But I know in my heart,_

_That you'll never really go,_

_So here is my last poem,_

_For the man I adore,_

_I'll make the same promise;_

_I'll love you forevermore,_

_A beloved boy forever gone,_

_And one last lonely poem,_

_A sweet, fanged smile,_

_That is mine and mine alone._


End file.
